Fuzz-ball to the Rescue
by AkaNoKarasu
Summary: Suddenly waking up in a body that is not your own is freaky enough. Waking up in the body of a cat is even worse. Waking up in a fictional world just puts a cherry on top of it all. (Warning pre-gen OCs; SI!Cat)
1. Chapter 1

_Edited 20/11/2014_

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

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><p><em>Where am I? And just <em>_**why**__?_

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><p>One moment everything is fine, the next you are wondering which deity you pissed off to deserve the predicament you found yourself in right at that moment.<p>

This whole thing started about a day ago when I woke up with one nasty headache. To make things worse when I finally did regain consciousness I did not even know where I was. The worst part was that I did not even remember how I got there.

Calming down, or at least, trying to, I concluded that the best course of action would be to determine where I am and how to get back home.

Therefore, I tried to get up, because from what little I saw while lying down, my initial thought was that I was left in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Alternatively, some other rocky place, after all, geography never was my strong side. Getting up was the hard part, because I kept falling flat on my face. I must have tried this a few times before my gaze finally fell on my hands.

Since when did I have paws? Just what happened last night?

* * *

><p>I...<p>

I was a cat.

Wow. Even 3 hours later, it still sounds weird.

After I had finally stood up, I realized how short I actually was. Then again, I was a cat now. So that's a given.

My face look like it was splattered by brown paint, with clear blue eyes staring at me. My ears were the same colour as my face, the most of my body was actually white, with the exception of my legs which were covered in light brown fur, resembling leg warmers. My paw remained a solid white and my tail light brown like my legs, it was also fluffy. While I had never been beautiful as a human, I could certainly say I was a beautiful cat. Hah, at least I had one thing going for me.

_Alright, concentrate, where are you?_

_"I am the worst, I'm a freaking failure. Damn it!"_

I jumped slightly at the loud scream. A girl, definitely. I reluctantly decided to approach her.

I hid behind a bolder gazing at a most _intriguing_ sight. Yeah, let us go with that one. A teenage girl, perhaps around fifteen was smashing a rock with her bare hands.

A meow that left my mouth unconsciously gave away my position. I thought I could make a bolt for it, but unfortunately, the girl was fast. She managed to catch me by the scruff of my neck before I could even make five steps. I, of course struggled in her grip not liking the way she lifted me up from the floor like a rag doll.

"Let me go!"

Strangely enough, instead of meowing sound that I expected, actual words came out of my mouth.

The girl's glassy green eyes stared into my ocean blue ones, wide with surprise. For what felt like the longest time neither of us said anything.

Finally, I was fed up and asked sarcastically, "Well, are you going to release me now?"

To my utter surprise, she nodded slowly setting me to the ground. I sighed, satisfied when I felt the ground beneath my feet, eh, paws.

For some strange reason I felt the urge to lick my right paw, so I did. It was strangely satisfying. I hoped I would not develop a habit of that.

After that, I looked up to find the girl still staring at me, her head titled to the side, examining me.

"What?" I asked, annoyed with the whole situation.

I got a better look at her. It was not the tanned skin, or the shoulder length brown hair that got my attention, neither was it the average height of the girl. It was the headband tied to her right tight, the symbol of Kumogakure clearly visible on it.

No, on no. Oh, why? Why did it have to be ninjas? Why could not it have been pirates? I do not like the jumping, or the magic tricks that was my sister's area. Alright, she did force me to sit through the whole (well at least until the last episode out) anime, and I had to read the damn manga because my mother thought that I was not spending enough time with my little sister and I should be a good older sibling and take interest in my little sister's life. Moreover, look where that brought me? This was probably her dream, but certainly not mine. In addition, to top it all off, I am a bloody cat!

I had not even realized that I was grumbling until I heard the voice of the kunoichi above me ask if I were alright.

"Eh, yeah, I guess." I managed to mumble out. I was _**not **_ok, but what the heck. I could not tell her who or rather what I really was, either.

"Hm, are you a summon? Did I do something wrong, is it about me not being fit to pass the chunin exams? Or is it about that prank somebody pulled on Dodai, which wasn't me! Please don't punish me!" She continued rambling and mumbling out apologies and promises. I could only stare unable to stop the madness.

"Oi. OI! Girl, shut it, you are making my ears bleed. No, I am not a summon, uh, at least I do not think so and I am not here to punish you either. Jeez, what kind of village is this?"

But the girl was barely paying attention, instead sulking a bit away from where I was sitting, a dark cloud looming over her.

"You want to pass the chunin exams? Why? You look _way _too weak for that." The dark cloud over her head grew bigger as did the grin I now wore.

"But I got to do it! Otherwise, I will always remain an outsider!"

Outsider? Kushina-complex much? Hmm, so that means she does not have much contact with other people. Which means she does not have a lot of ninja round her that would care enough if it seemed she was in some sort or trouble or danger. Oh, this could indeed work in my favour.

"If you want, I could help you pass those exams," I offered much to her amazement. Her expression, however soon grew somber.

"But how?"

"Leave that to me. I will figure something out. Besides, as far as I can see it you do not have much of a choice anyway."

She nodded, before giving me a fake smile. "I guess you are right," she added as an afterthought.

* * *

><p>"My name is Mariko, what about you, shishou?"<p>

_Shishou? Doesn't that mean... _

"Oi, girl! I am not your master, seriously... I'm a cat." _However, I plan to make quite a lot of use of you._

The girl just shrugged.

"But you're going to help me prepare for the chunin exams, no? So that makes you my teacher of sort, right Neko-shishou?"

I just groaned, that girl had a strange logic. I was not going to argue about that with her. Ah, yes, a name, let us see, what can I say? I certainly am not calling myself Doris again. Then again, what could I call myself? No names were coming to me. Maybe...

"Noriko."

The girl stopped her rambling about the exams to give me a confused look.

Annoyed I elaborated, "My name is Noriko."

She gave me a happy smile at which I could only hang my head. What this really going to be worth it?

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><p>"Come on Neko-shishou, let's go to my apartment, I think I got some fish you can eat." Now that she mentioned it, I was quite hungry, so I was not about to turn down the offer of free food. Though somehow I did not think it was going to be free. Somehow, I had the feeling this girl was going to make me work quite hard. Oh well, no sense to dwell on it now.<br>She insisted on calling me Neko-shishou despised me telling her my name. Oh well, can't really convince her, she was a strange one, reminded me of Naruto, sort of. Just without the demon.  
>Hm, now that I think about it, where was I in the timeline. Hmm, not that it is important, because obviously I cannot help. Seeing as I was a bloody cat! Nevertheless, that was not going to stop me entirely.<br>"Oi, Mariko-san, you think your parents will be fine with you dragging a cat home?" I really did not want to be chased by an angry mother with a broom.  
>Mariko gave me a small, but sad smile. Oh come on, do not tell me she does not have any parents! What is it with orphans and this series?!<br>"Actually, I live with my aunt. But, don't worry, I'm sure she will like you, but she is on a mission right now, so we will have to wait with introductions."  
>I nodded soaking in the information. Well, at least she did not live alone. That made it slightly better, but only slightly.<p>

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><p>I could almost see it, the giant sweat drop running down the back of my head.<br>"Uh, Mariko-san, are you sure nobody broke into the apartment or something?"I found it to be odd she was so calm with the situation.  
>She turned her confused green eyes on me. "Why would you think that?"<br>Well, apart from the fact the place looked like a bomb went off in there with all the cloths scattered round, and empty food cartoons, no reason.  
>"Uh, you said I was your shishou right?" She nodded eagerly.<br>"Then here is your first task."  
>She looked so eager; it almost made me feel bad, almost.<br>"Clean up!"  
>Her face fell from happy to depressed in the matter of a second, I could have laughed, if I wasn't a cat. Turns out, I just make strange hissing sounds instead of producing laughter, so I was sticking with a silent, inner chuckle.<p>

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><p>"You know, you're a really strange girl," I concluded as I watched the girl clean the two-bedroom apartment. She briefly stopped in scoping up clothes to look at me.<p>

"What do you mean shishou?"

"Well, you tell me, I'm not the one taking orders from a talking cat I just met a mere hour ago."

She had a sweat drop running down the back of her head, her eyes closed as she took in what I just said.

"Uh?" Her confused expression did nothing but make me think she was insane. Much like myself actually, so everything was fine, right?

I just shook my head. "Never mind."

I glanced at her and nearly fell over in shock.

"Don't put the dirty clothes into the closet!"

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><p>"Well, I got to admit Mariko-san, the place is spotless."<p>

She gave me a satisfied grin.

"Thank you, shishou!"

"Can't you just call me Noriko?" Mariko nodded.

"Sure, Noriko-sama! You can call me Mari." I nodded, well at least she was respectful, I will give her that.

"Too bad, you're still going to be called brat."

"Wow, you sure like tuna," mumbled the brown-haired kunoichi as I practically inhaled the fish before me.

"I'm a cat, what did you expect? Besides I was hungry," I muttered after I finished the heavenly fish.

Mari-chan only nodded. "That's fine. Though, I'm afraid you ate all the fish."

I sulked slightly, damn and it had been delicious too. "Fine, now that I ate, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Mariko told me her life story. The shortened version, thankfully.

"As you know my name is Mariko, Tachibana Mariko that is. My parents were ninja, but were killed during a mission, so I live with my aunt, my father's sister. I used to live in Yukigakure when I was little. However, after my parents had been killed, I had to go live with my aunt. She moved here to get married... Eh, that did not turn out well. Anyway, I'm a genin, 13 years old and am supposed to take my chunin exams in 2 months time."

"Alright... What's your chakra nature?"

She gave me a blank stare.

"Chakra nature? No idea."

I restrained the urge to sigh.

"Alright... What about taijutsu, ninjutsu or genjutsu? Any good at those?"

I watched as she scratched her head thinking. "Well, I can make clones? My taijutsu is not _that _bad, I don't know any genjutsu." She looked rather down after she finished.

"Damn. How did you become a genin anyway?" And here I thought Naruto becoming genin was farfetched.

She just groaned hiding her face in her hands.

"I don't know! I will never pass the exams!" I sighed.

"Brat, you could always take them next year."

She shook her head. "No! I have to pass! I can't let him be right!"

I nearly fell over. Seriously, she is doing this to prove somebody wrong.

"Look kid, unless you start training because you want to become stronger and not to prove somebody that you are, you're never gonna amount to anything!"

She looked a bit surprised at my words, going silent.

"I-"

"Listen, I get it, somebody put you down and now you wanna prove to them that you can make it. Really that's fine, but as long as that is your primal motivation, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you that it just won't do."

She gave me a nod. "Right, well then Noriko-sama, what do you suggest?"

I grinned, just what I had waited for. "Well, I'm glad you asked. First we are going to work on your confidence and motivation and then we are going to train!"

She looked plain confused. "Work on my confidence and motivation? How are we going to do that?"

"Ah leave that to me."

Good, was I glad I used to be a karate instructor or what? I knew those self-defense lessons would pay of one day!

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><p>"Alright girl, your first task is to tell me about that person you wanna prove wrong."<p>

At first she seemed like she wanted to protest, but one look and she shut her moth before finally answering the question.

For our training session I had us moved to one of the training field, Mari-chan showed me to.

"Well, he is arrogant, full of himself, thinks he is better just because he is already a jonin, I bet it's only because he is the Raikage's son..." she continued to angrily mumble to herself while I was stuck on the last piece of information I heard.

Son of the Raikage? That would not happen to be...

"His name wouldn't happen to be A would it?" She stopped in the middle of her angry rambling to give me a nod.

"Yeah, you know him?"

Now a dark cloud was over _my _head. The Raikage's son, really? The soon to be Raikage is who she wants to prove wrong? The guy who threw Sasuke around like a rag doll? Well, dream on kid, because it is not going to happen.

"Kid, I can already bet all my money on the Raikage's brat."

She sulked. "But, shishou!"

I cut her off.

"No buts! Don't make enemies with people who can kick your ass without even trying!"

She pouted.

Oh no, not the _puppy- eye- look_, my sister used to pull that one when she wanted something and unfortunately I was a sucker for those eyes.

"Ugh, alright. I will help, but I am not promising anything. So, he says you can't pass the exams, huh? Well, then..."

I could be doing thing that are much more fun and entertaining. I could be in Konoha and watch that Naruto brat prank people, but no. Here I am clearly some good years away from canon, stuck helping a Kumo-brat with her chunin exams.


	2. Chapter 2

Unedited due to lack of Beta.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

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><p><em>A meeting with the Kage<em>

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><p>"I don't think we are getting anywhere with this, is proving this A wrong so important to you and if so why? Just why would that be your main goal?"<p>

In all honesty I didn't get the girl, while she did appear like she had potential, because truth to be told her taijutsu wasn't that bad when I saw her spar with a dummy; her motivation was a whole other thing. The only reason her hits were even remotely powerful was because they were fueled by anger, anger at the Raikage's son, but the questions was, why did she hate him so much. It couldn't be just because he insulted her, could it? There was something she wasn't telling me and I wasn't about to let it go.

Mariko stared at me before a sigh escaped her lips.

"Look kid, there is clearly something you're not telling me. I get it, but first thing first. Did you _ever _stop and consider I could be a spy?" Mari-chan, to my utter surprise nodded.

"I did, at first. But then I thought, if you were a spy, why bother with me? I'm nobody important and neither am I familiar with any of the high up shinobi, expect A, but that guy hates my guts, so..." She trailed of in her speech while giving me a meaningful look. "I considered handing you over to the Raikage. But, you didn't seem interested in getting information, all you did was nag me about my bad skills and call me a failure, you could have questioned me about my relation with A to get information, yet you only scoffed me about making a dangerous enemy. To me that does not seem like a spy."

"And what if I was only trying to gain your trust? And by making you a chunin I could get closer to the kage's office as your summon?"

At that her face paled, clearly she had not considered that option.

"Girly, spies are tricky people, and they are never what they appear to be. Often a spy will try to gain your trust before he ends up stabbing you in the back. You gotta be more careful. If you want to you can hand me over the Raikage, maybe that would make you feel better."

Truth to be told, I just wanted to make sure ANBU disn't try to kill me in the middle of the night because somebody found out how I got here.

"I-" She was, however cut off by a loud voice.

"Yo, yo, yo, who is this fuzzy-ball, didn't know you had a thing for cats and all."

Oh great, the rapping moron of Kumogakure, at your service. Damn it, the last person I needed. Killer B in chibi form. While he looked cute, he was probably still as annoying as ever. Did I mention I hate rap?

"B-san, this is my shi- I mean friend, Noriko." I tore my eyes from the blonde rapper to briefly gaze at the girl who had just spoken. She was covering me, again. Did she hear nothing from what I had just told her about spies?

"O-ha-yo, No-ri-ko." My left eye twitched slightly, _must, restrain, urge, to snap at him._

"Hello," I snapped bluntly as the rapper shut his mouth.

"You're not a friendly one, are you neko-chan?" I just sighed, while his rapping is annoying I did feel bad about snapping. He had it hard enough as a jinchuriki.

"Sorry, I'm not in the best mood. Anyway, weren't we on our way to the kage's office?" I asked the kunoichi who flushed slightly with colour as B glanced at us suspiciously.

"Why would you need to see the old man, rather watch all the things B can! Oh yeah!" He rapped all the while moving his hands to a beat only he could hear.

"We just need to see him, I need to talk to him about something."

My resolve was made up, while I was probably going to stay with the girl, I also thought it a good idea to get on the Raikage's good side. Which could give me intel. In return I would simply offer to spy for him, which considering my knowledge, wouldn't be that hard.

"Well, if that is so, I will come with you, yo!" I could tell Mariko was eying me suspiciously, but in all honesty I was pretty satisfied with a plan I had just come up with. It did have some flaws. Alright! The whole plan was faulty. But, hey! You come up with something fast while in my situation!

Self pity on the side, the weird trio of us made our way to the kage's office, much to my displeasure, B continued to rap. I did notice the glares he received from the villagers, and not only he. Seems like my little friend wasn't liked very much either.

* * *

><p>The kage's office was pretty much like in the anime, only exception was; behind the desk was the Third, not the Forth Raikage.<p>

"What is it you want, B?"

Why didn't I have hands to shield my ears with?! Curse you, sensitive hearing! Damn was that guy loud.

"I-" I cut him off, not wanting to hear any more of his rapping.

"Actually, Raikage-sama, I came here to talk to you," turning to the brats I said, "You two can go home." They both looked a bit weird-ed out, then again, it's probably not everyday a cat wants an audience with the Raikage.

The Raikage watched all this silently, only speaking once the kids were out of the room.

"Well, what does a small cat have to say to the Raikage?" While he didn't necessarily sound sarcastic he did sound doubtful.

"More then you can imagine."

Of course I wasn't about to tell him everything. But, I could always twist the truth. Besides, if I played out my card right I could get Kumo to help me out with my plan to mess with the story line, without giving away who I was in the process. Hmm, good plan, let's hope it works.

"I came to Kumo because I have heard of the greatness of this village, and I know how to make it even _better._"

If there is one thing I learned then it's when you're negotiating with somebody make sure to point out how great they are and how much better they would be with your idea.

The Raikage was now listening. Good.

"You see, I have some information that I'm sure Kumogakure could benefit from."

The Third gave me a thoughtful look.

"And how would a cat have such information? Not to mention, even if you did, why pick Kumo and what do _you_ gain from this?"

You know, I always had the opinion those Kumo guys were all brawn and no brain. Why did they suddenly develop intelligence?

"Because I'm such a small and unimportant cat I can easily get to information. As to why Kumo, I believe you have the potential to became far greater than ever. Far greater than all the other shinobi villages."

Not a total lie, I did always believe Kumo had the potential; they just went for it the wrong way. Sis did always comment on the bad kidnapping attempt at the Hyuuga heiress, due to their lack of Kekkei genkai or when they tried to kidnap Kushina. But, there was a better solution to that. Timing was simply crucial.

He was staring at me silently, his peculiar eyes boring into my very soul, like he was analyzing every bit of what I am. Finally he spoke.

"For now, I would like to hear what you have to tell me. I need to know if you're telling the truth about having information and cat..."

"Hai, Raikage-sama?" His eyes bored straight into mine as he spoke.

"If you betray me or lie to me, I will make sure it will be the last thing you do." I just nodded. Oh, I knew that, and didn't doubt he would make my end very, _very _painful at best.

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><p>"How do you know about the jinchuriki?" He questioned after I was done informing him, while I didn't say much, I said enough to convince him.<p>

"Well, as I said, who would suspect a cat minding her own business, and civilians _can_ be rather stupid." He nodded, satisfied with my explanation.

"Still, what's in it for you?" I purred jumping up on his desk. While he didn't seem to have a problem with seeing me from his seat due to his height, I was just sick of looking up at him, even if he was sitting down.

"I get to mess with a guy I would love to see dead; you could call it a personal vendetta of sort." The third nodded leaning back in his seat, observing the information in his mind. I patiently waited till he was done.

"So, how do we get those jinchuriki you meantioned?" I frowned, not good.

"I don't think it's wise to make a move, _just yet._" I added the last bit when his eyes fell on me, damn this guy was scary!

"And why not?"

"Well, for once, you have just found a suitable container for Hachibi, right? And that took you really long, imagine what kind of destruction more tailed beats could cause, _especially _the Kyuubi." With that logic he couldn't argue.

"So, what was the point of telling me then?" He muttered, watching.

"Well, I do have a few ideas at hand or rather paw, but that's not important. There is something else I have been meaning to inform you about. And it does concern the tailed beasts." Again, having this man's full attention, while flattering was also very intimidating. "I heard rumours about an organization, their plan is to capture all tailed beast, what for I do not know yet, but I intend to find out." Here was no point in giving him every bit of the information. I had to be tactical, bit by bit and this plan of mine could work. _Though, that wasn't exactly true yet, it was after the war that Obito took over Akatsuki, but the Raikage doesn't know that and what better motivation for that guy then protecting his village?_

To my surprise the Raikage merely laughed. "Let them come, Kumo will crush them!" I shook my head.

"While I have no doubt in Kumo's superior shinobi, I highly doubt they can go against the Rinnegan." His eyes widened.

"You got proof for that, the Rinnegan is only a legend!" I shook my head.

"While it is only a rumour," _oh boy, you have no idea, but I can't exactly tell you the truth either,_ "we shouldn't ignore it. It came from pretty reliable sources." Again the Kage of Kumogakure considered my words carefully.

"Who are those sources?" I shook my head.

"I can't tell you for your own and their safety, I can only say that whatever they told me had always been correct. I highly doubt they would have alerted me if it was nothing."

_Huh, well, this is risky, imaginary sources, wow, great move dumb-ass. Oh well, can't really do anything about it now. Hopefully he won't be persistent about it. _

Finally the Raikage nodded. "I will have to call in a meeting about this. I will call you in after we have made a decision whether to trust you or not. Still, why would a summon want to help, I thought you guys to be the private type." I shrugged.

"You're going to find me most curious, Raikage-sama, I'm not your usually summon. In fact nothing about me is ordinary, but that is all rather beneficial to you, ne?" He just smirked.

"We will see, cat." I just nodded.

"I will be with the girl, Tachibana Mariko. That's where you can find me."

He gave me a nod.

"You're dismissed."

Normally I would have been mad, he didn't even summon me yet he wants to dismiss me? But, this _was _the Third Raikage. Frankly, he could do whatever he damn well wanted. Besides, according to my calculations the Third Shinobi World War was about to star. I had no time to lose. After all, round this time Akatsuki was formed originally.

Ah, well, I guess I get to go and plan.

* * *

><p>"Alright kid, spit it out, you have been unusually quite."<p>

While I appreciated the quite it was just way to weird with the hyperactive kunoichi I decided to train.

"Nothing." She muttered still sulking before she made a drastic change in her mood.

"So, how was the meeting with the Raikage?"

I titled my head to the side. I was going to have to investigate, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with everything I had seen. Oh, this was almost like one of my court cases. How fun.

"Ah, the meeting went fine, I guess, but the final verdict about my stay will be tomorrow."

She nodded. "You think they will let you?"

I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Either way I don't think I will walk out of this village easily."

She seemed confused by my words, but didn't question.

Let's face it, if they let me stay, they will keep me inside the village to determine if I was trust worthy, if they chose not to trust me, I highly doubt I will leave this place alive.

"Oi, brat! Enough sulking, back to training!"

"But shishou-," I glared.

"No buts! You wanna pass the exams, start training. I wanna see fifty push-ups, on each hand!" Her eyes widened.

"Bu-" A single glare cut her off. Damn, I liked having power and it was fun to mess with the girl. She was too easy. But, sooner or later I would find out the reason for her strange behavior. Yeah, there's got to be a reason. Nobody takes orders from a cat unless they have a damn good reason for it.

...

_**Again, reviews are appreciated!**_

_Not really an eventful chapter, but things start to get fun after the third one, so hope you can bear with me. Yes, Noriko does appear to be taking things lightly, but she is rather cool headed and likes to observe before making a rash decision. She is an analytic sort of person, eh, cat, but likes to manipulate people without them realizing it, to do her biding for her. She doesn't do it out of spite or to harm anybody (well, except Madara, but let's be serious, who wouldn't harm that guy?), she simply enjoys teasing people, but hates oblivious people when she doesn't have need for them. A bit confusing I know, but Noriko wasn't designed to be a character in the spot lightly. You will see her manipulate other character into doing stuff to change the story, only a few people will actually know its Noriko's doing. Ah, she is weird, I know, but somehow I can't help but like her._

_I think I suck at B's rhymes, why does it have to be so hard to rhyme! Yeah, so sorry if it sounded weird! ^^'_

_REVIEWS:_

Radiant Celestial Aura: Thank you for the comment! I just didn't want to create a Mary-Sue and this concept came out, what can I say, it will be a challenge, if you can see it's going down-hill tips and suggestions would be appreciated. :)

saashi samy: Thank you dear! I do hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :D

Crys: Nah, Noriko is to calculative to meet trouble (which doesn't mean she won't find any, trust me, nobody has perfect luck), but she will not be exactly welcomed in the village for a while and everybody will be rather suspicious, but hey, Kumo isn't know to welcome outsider's with open arms, right? ;) Thanks for the suggestion, if you have any more do please say :D

Elisa1020: Thank you! :D


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

* * *

><p>Finally back at her apartment I sat the girl down in front of me. I could tell she was exhausted and probably wanted to do nothing more than sleep, but first I needed to know a few things.<p>

"Alright brat, I have had it with the attitude change, either you tell me what happened or I will force it out of you."

Alright, I probably had no means to _force it out of her, _but she still took the threat to heart.

"I- it's nothing really."

I made a humming tone in the back of my throat, glaring at the teenager in front of me. "I don't believe you. But, I can probably guess it has something to do with that A guy, right?"

The look in her eyes darkened slightly confirming my suspicions.

"Look here kid, whatever he said, does it really matter so much. It's not like you're in love with him or anything… You aren't right?"

_That would be... hmm, can't decide between hilarious and frightening._

She scoffed. "Of course not, who could ever like that arrogant prick anyway! I- It has nothing to do with him personally. I can guess you noticed the looks I get round the village?" I nodded, I have been meaning to ask her, but deemed it best if she told me herself.

"Well, Kumo doesn't like outsiders much…" _That's kind of a given, but go on_," …so people don't like me because I was originally born in Shimogakure as were my parents. My aunt has the same problem, but she can handle it better and at least has _some _friends."

I title me head to the side, curiosity taking over.

"What about that B fellow? Isn't he your friend, or your teammates? And if that doesn't work, then I guess… _I _will be your friend." She gave me a tiny smile.

_Really, that got you to smile? Wonder what would happen if I actually meant it?_

"Thank you." She muttered quietly.

"Though," I began gaining her attention again," why are you friend with B? The villagers don't like him much either by my observation."

A frown made its way across her face, her eyes downcast, wailed by shadows. "That is kind of a secret and I don't know whether I should tell you…" I sighed.

"I know he is a jinchuriki, just wasn't sure if you did," I stated as I watched her nod.

"I see. Well, I came here a few years ago, before B-san became a jinchuriki. I met him through A, since he adopted him as a brother. They are a tag team, it's tradition for the next in line for Raikage, but I guess you knew that." At my nod she continued."Well, I'm ashamed to admit that if it weren't for the fact that I had been an outsider and craved some sort of friendship I would have pushed B-san away like everybody else…"

"But, you didn't and that's all that matters." She gave a small smile. _Seriously, how easy is it to get this girl in a good mood? Well, I guess I can't complain too much._

"Aren't you afraid of him, shishou?"

There we go again with that master nonsense, but I guess I get it now, she is just lonely, and nobody trusts her. She is an outsider, but hey, so was I.

"I have no reason to be. And he seems fine, though his rapping could use _major _improvement." That got her to laugh, which with her constant mood swings I found to be more annoying than anything else.

"That's true. Even A doesn't like his rapping."

"O! Girly, what's your obsession with A, anyway?" She rubbed the back of her head.

"He was one of the first to say outsider like me shouldn't be trusted and could never become a Kumo-shinobi, or in my case kunoichi." I frowned. That does slightly sound like A though I never knew much about him, expect his loyalty for his brother, comrade and Kumogakure in general. And Mariko was genuinely upset about it too.

"Don't worry kid, it's not about proving him wrong, you gotta prove yourself wrong first." Her confused expression seemed to be a routine by now when we spoke.

"Prove myself wrong?" I nodded.

"If you believe you're an outsider, don't expect others to think you're not." And with those words we lapsed into comfortable (at least for me) silence.

* * *

><p>"Well, you could sleep on my bed? " Ah, Mariko, such a sweet innocent kid, too bad as a ninja that won't help her. Especially being a ninja of Kumogakure.<p>

"Kid, I'm a cat. I can virtually sleep anywhere. Besides, I wasn't going to bed right now anyway. Just go to sleep. I will be here in the morning." Mariko gave me a single long look, before nodding and going to her room.

Now, with her out of my way, I can finally start planning for tomorrow. If you think I convinced the Raikage, then you have a surprise coming at you. Like hell! I could see it in his eyes; he did not take me serious at all, then again… He seemed curious enough. Curious enough to investigate, that is. Something else, however bothered me.

He was surprised when I revealed the location of the nine tails, shouldn't he have know that one? I mean, isn't he the one who ordered Kushina to be kidnapped? I'm not sure, it may have been A's idea after all. Let's do the math.

Alright.

We will start with the only age I know. In Shippuden B was 35 years old. That makes him, hmm, 19 when the Kyuubi attack happens. Right now I would say he was round 6-7. Which mean the Kyuubi attack isn't happening for another 10 years at last. Still, Kushina was kidnapped when she was 12. Damn it I wish I knew how old she was when she gave birth to Naruto. Hmm, that technically mean the kidnap attempt was either already made or is about to be made. I somehow don't like this. If the Raikage had no sources on the jinchuriki then how did he find out about them? This is all too strange for my liking.

One thing for sure, I'm starting to dub the old man ever ordered Kushina's kidnapping in the first place. But, if Konoha has somebody like Danzo, then maybe Kumo has too? I will have to investigate this, but later, right now it would just be way too suspicious.

* * *

><p>"Oi, brat, wake up!"<p>

Mariko steered, rolled over, but did not wake up. I sighed. I was a cat, too bad, if I was human I would sure as hell get a bucket of cold water and pour it over her.

"Brat! You're late for training."

Last night before she went to bed Mariko told me about her team mates. In all honestly. Both sounded… interesting, for a lack of better word.

First she named a quite boy named Katsumi. According to her Katsumi was sort of a prodigy in his clan, while they had no kekkei genkai, that clan was specialized in the use of lightning ninjutsu, so the boy had already a huge advantage. He was described to me as having white, chin length hair and lavender eyes.

Next was Riza. Now Riza seemed interesting. He was described as a lazy ass who did virtually nothing and liked to nap more than train. While he was a lazy ass he was not weak. According to Mariko the boy was most skilled in taijutsu. He had shoulder length orange hair and green eyes, his nose and cheeks covered in freckles, giving him a more boyish and childish appearance. He was the nicest of the bunch and according to Mariko paid the most attention to her, which in translation meant that he was actually acknowledging her.

That being said her teammates were close to mid-range attack. That means the best deal for Mariko would be to become a wide range attack. Sadly she had no skill in those areas either. Guess I gotta go explore the library after the whole deal with the Raikage that is, if he doesn't kill me first.

Her sense was a whole other matter. She was not somebody I was familiar with. Her name was apparently Midori, she had light brown hair tied in a low ponytail and dark brown, nearly black eyes, with tanned skin and used yellow eye shadow (yes, the kid could be very detailed when prompted, at least she was good at paying attention to details, that was a plus). Her weapon of choice was supposedly a small boomerang that she swung channeling chakra into it. According to Mariko it created quite a forceful attack, being able to slice solid objects. As for her personality, I was only told she was an _interesting personality. _Oh joy, more interesting people, I just hoped she was nothing like Gai.

"BRAT! WAKE UP!" Alright, that was the loudest such small lung can get, but hey, it got the job done.

"AHH!" After her girly scream she proceeded with falling of the bed, cursing loudly.

I simply chuckled.

"Get up, or do you really wanna be late? What kind of impression are you trying to make here?" I sighed at her dazed, still half asleep gaze. "Forget it, they probably already know anyway."

* * *

><p>The scene we arrived in was… colorful. To say the least. Who I'm guessing is Riza was sound asleep on the trainings grounds, arms crossed behind his head, serving as a pillow, next to him was the white haired boy, Katsumi, glaring daggers at the sleeping male. And behind them, to my sheer horror was their instructor, reading a book, looking every bit like Kakashi, with her lay back attitude and complete ignorance over the situation.<p>

"You're late, Mariko-san." She said simply, her voice was neutral, to say the least. While not emotionless, it did sound exactly friendly either.

Beside me Mariko sulked before walking over to her teammates. "Ohayo, Katsumi-san, Riza-san," she greeted politely. Katsumi gave her a simple nod before continuing to glare at Riza, who remained asleep, not even as much as twitching.

Please tell me you're kidding. This has got to be some kind of joke. Katsumi was like a bad mix of Neji and Sasuke, while Riza seemed to be a mix of Shikamaru and well, not sure, let's see when he wakes up. Mariko was just plainly nuts, but kind of like Kushina now that I think about it. You know, an outsider and all that.

"This is my friend, Noriko." She said gesturing towards me. Again, the silent one nodded, the other _still _asleep.

I sighed, and walked over to the sensei.

"Oi!" She didn't bother even looking at me just asked rudely, what.

"Ah, yes, Raikage-sama did mention something to me about you. Noriko-san, pleasure to finally meet you," her smile was almost as fake as Sai's. I was slightly impressed.

"The _pleasure _is all _mine,_" I gave her a wide, equally fake grin in return at which she only raised a brow, a ghost of a smile visible on her lips.

"Aren't you going to train them?"

Midori merely shrugged. "Maybe, or maybe I will continue reading. Who knows?" A shrug emphasized her words, her gaze never leaving that ridiculously small book in her hands.

* * *

><p>I have had about enough of waiting around for something to happen. Mariko was rather unsuccessfully taring to go through the motions I showed her yesterday while Katsumi seemed to be going through some well practiced moves of his own. Most likely they were taught to him by his clan.<p>

"Alright brats, listen up!"

The two genin who were awake snapped their head up to me, one glaring the other looking confused. I sighed walked over to the sleeping kid and jumped on his face, scratching wildly.

"AHHHHH! GET IT OF! GET IT OF!"

I kept my grip on his face before finally releasing it and jumping backwards. You would be surprised at how much better reflexes a cat has, not to mention the sight and hearing, but enough about that. Right now, let's get down to business.

"Why should we listen to you? Who are you anyway? For all we know you could be a spy?"

"Which is not for you, but for the Raikage to decide."

He glared.

"I don't need anything you can show me. However, the _dead lasts _might actually profit some."

Riza threw him a rather nasty glare. "Like hell I do. Tachibana," he yelled while pointing at her," is the one that needs pointers. I'm going back to sleep."

I heaved a sigh.

"Guess it's just the two of us brat."

She gave me a weak smile.

* * *

><p>"Position your body a bit more to the left next time, otherwise somebody could hit you in the stomach quite easily. Now, uppercuts are meant to be fast, but you will need a practice dummy. You do have those thing somewhere right?"<p>

She nodded. "Other training's field though," she stated weakly.

"Or you could try it out on me?" Mariko turned to see Riza rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry about that earlier. I was sort of half asleep."

Mariko smiled brightly at him instantly forgiving him. _Another thing to add to the growing list of Mariko's bad traits that should not be nurtured by a ninja._

"Good, that way I can show you the most efficient way to block it. And seriously, they never taught you that at the academy?"

"Our taijutsu style is different," Riza supplied helpfully.

* * *

><p>An hour more passed and those two looked like they were actually trying to get to know each other. Well, next exercise will be team work, but it's too late for that today. Beside, having them actually do something seems like a great improvement. Even if it were only the two of them. Besides, I saw Katsumi sneaking glances at the two of them. I'm sure a couple of more sessions and I can get him to join in.<p>

* * *

><p>Half an hour later Midori-san was going to call it a day when suddenly a shinobi appeared out of nowhere.<p>

"I'm looking for Noriko-san."

"That would be me!" He looked down and I could just imagine the confused expression. Oh, boy, they probably did not tell him I was a cat.

"Eh, yes- Ahem, please follow me. Raikage-sama wants to talk to you."I gave a short nod.

"I will see you later brat." She just gave me a small wave an uncertain smile on her face. I just shook it of an concentrated on the meeting to be.

* * *

><p><em>Ohayo people, thanks to everybody who faved or followed this story, you guys are awesome! Now on to some of the most asked questions, <em>_**yes **__I will be changing some mayor plot point, yes this fic will turn AU at some point, but that was the point to see how much Noriko could change. Honestly, it would be kind of boring to keep everything the same. Next one would be, yes people are suspicious of Noriko, you will see that in the next chapter, however summons aren't that rare, and them having knowledge of the ninja arts is not rare as well. Noriko will not be trust for a long while, but don't worry, thing will change for both her and Mariko. Now as for Noriko getting in trouble. She is a cat, a __**very pretty cat, **__and as such I may add a few situations about that. Some will mean a lot trouble for Noriko and some will be quite useful. But, not to give away too much, that's all I'm saying for now._

_**REVIEWS:  
><strong>_

_**Radiant Celestial Aura: Thank you! Yes, situations like that will happen, but not to reveal too much ;) Thank you for putting that idea in my head, I have been thinking about something similar, your review helped :)**_

_**Crys: :D Well, know you know, Mariko is kind of like Kushina was in Konoha, but that will change ;)**_

_**saashi samy: Thank you so much dear! :)**_

_**Meatbun Attack: Well, I think I already answered that, next chapter will explain everything in detail :D**_

_**1412 karasu: Thank you for pointing that out, wasn't aware of that :) She had a meeting with A's father, not A, A is still a teenager and becomes Raikage later on. As for the meeting, you will have a chapter long meeting next time, this meeting was only to interest the Third Raikage so he could disscuss it with his shinobi council :) Hope that clears it up :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

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><p>3rd POV<p>

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><p>Noriko gazed round the room taking everything in, now that the initial shock of a cat as a spymaster went by. While at first Noriko had been amused by those reactions now it has just gotten plain annoying.<p>

The room was long, a table running in the middle down its length. Sitting on either side were various people, and as Noriko noted they were mostly if not all of the high ranking shinobi of the Hidden Cloud Village. While most of them had poker faces on, some of them had doubtful expressions, and Noriko's sharp hearing could pick up some insults on her as well as surprisingly enough, on the Raikage's behalf, though the latter were silenced by other shinobi.

"ENOUGH!" The loud booming voice of the Raikage effectively stopped the whispering in the room. All focus landing on the imposing man they called their Kage.

Noriko didn't even flinch, she just closed her eyes. The people round her were still too loud for the cat's liking.

Noriko's critical eyes kept analyzing people in the room, she really didn't know what to think of this situation, but one thing she knew for sure, there was no going back now. Only last night did she realize her mistake about telling the Raikage of Akatsuki. She had finally remembered that they did not start looking for the bij u until after the third war, and not even then was it widely known until they started with Naruto and then afterwards captured Gaara. However, Noriko wasn't stupid either. She knew how to use lies and false information to her advantage. Now after she convinced the council of her credibility she will have to convince the Raikage to let her leave the damn village so she could go information hunting.

"Raikage-sama, with all due respect, you can't be serious." Noriko didn't even glance at the man, she merely lifted her paw to examine it as she listened to the Raikage.

The Raikage of course glared, the look only intensified by his oddly coloured eyes. "_With all due respect," _sarcasm heavily dripping from the stoic man's voice, "I don't care. Now be QUIET!"

With the mumbling finally stopped Noriko turned to watch the room again, assessing people in it. To her most of them looked average, the kind of faces you would pass by and wouldn't look or think twice about them. But one man did stick out to her, even if only for the fact that the white hair and lavender eyes were a death giveaway. Come to think of it, when you looked closer he did resemble Katsumi, or rather the boy resembled this man greatly.

That man was Yasuhiro, Katsumi's father and head of the Ohitsuji Clan. He was a stoic man, rarely smiled and was never (not even by the people who consider him a friend) heard laughing. If you asked, people would say that he used to be pleasant company, never too loud, never resentful, never said anything wrong. Then tragedy struck the, then young man, as his wife died shortly after child birth, and his older brother was killed a year later on a mission to Mizu No Kuni, making him the new Clan head. Yasuhiro never desired the position, but after being pushed from all sides, especially the Clan Elders he had no choice but to accept.

And while he didn't necessarily neglect Katsumi, the boy didn't get to see much of his father while growing up either. He was mostly taught by other high ranking members of the Clan's Main Branch and never once questioned his lineage. But not having the love and understanding that only a mother could offer may have done some damage on the boys mind.

Noriko raised an invisible brow as the man spoke up drawing in the attention of the whole room.

"I believe we should let Noriko-san talk, after all I'm highly interested in those _beneficial _pieces ofinformation she is offering." Noriko noted the slight amusement in the man's eyes as the room looked at him in slight shock. Either he didn't talk much or what he said had been unexpected in the least to draw such a reaction from those round him, noted the observant cat.

Noriko purred before glancing at the Raikage to confirm it was alright to talk.

"Well, I hope the Raikage filled you in on what I told him…" The cat was cut off by a loud mouthed shinobi sitting further down the table on the opposite side of Yasuhiro.

"We have already tried taking the Kyuubi, what makes you believe we could take the other biju." Noriko scoffed, the attention of the room shifting back to the cat sitting on the head of the table in front of the Raikage. _SO, they have already attempted it, well, that means I need to have another conversation with the Raikage._

"First of I never suggested taking any of the other biju, besides you already have two and I don't see you getting _along _with them, now imagine adding more to the mix? I don't think so," scoffed the cat, her eyes narrowing dangerously before she returned them to their normal state," I would like to offer my assistance in gathering information. By telling you about the biju I was merely showing the fact that I could get to sensitive information of other villages. If Kumogakure isn't interested then I suppose another hidden village would…?" She trailed of as the sound of muttering and whispers filled the room.

Smugly she turned to the Raikage who was discussing something with what seemed to be him adviser. Noriko knew that this meeting was not over in the slightest, but hey, progress was progress, no matter how you looked at it.

* * *

><p>Mariko sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time as she stared at the spot Noriko <em>claimed <em>as her own on the couch, like her staring could make the cat magically appear there. She fiddled with her fingers, glanced from the door to the window, unsure of how her shishou planned to return. She was a cat, and cats _were _unpredictable so…

"Maybe I should take a walk, clear my mind and stuff. Maybe work on that self confidence shishou was talking about…" She trailed of making her resolve and stood up walking out the door.

On her way through the village, Mariko spotted a usual thing, Bee being glared at by every villager round him. Then a group of older boy appeared, seemingly ready to _take care of the demon brat. _Mariko sighed, a frown on her face. _Where is A, he is usually at the ready to keep B safe, _she wondered watching with narrowed eyes as the scene unfolded. Then she remembered what Noriko had told her the previous day.

_To them, he is nothing but the biju himself. To himself he is just a misunderstood boy. The question is, what is he to you?_

_A friend. _She though gathering the courage to go and help her friend.

* * *

><p>"We have decided to give you a chance, Noriko-san." Said Katsumi's father, he somehow seemed to be the most respected here and Noriko wasn't about to argue that fact, the man just let of a dangerous aura to begin with.<p>

Noriko let a small smirk grace her face. How endearing. She was in for a ride, that was for sure, but she needed more time to plan.

"Anything particular you want to know about?" Katsumi's father shook his head.

"No, but be at alert, we may be needing your assistance very soon. Raikage-sama, if you will excuse me, I think this meeting is over." He said glancing at his Kage. The Third nodded before dismissing the whole thing.

Noriko told the Raikage that she was currently staying with Tachibana Mariko, so if he needed her he could find her there, but not before agreeing to meet again tomorrow. After that she left. It had been a tiresome day after all.

* * *

><p>When Noriko returned home she was greeted by the sight of a bloody and beaten Mariko sitting on the couch, staring at the wall ahead of her. That wasn't what threw Noriko of, it was the fact that she was grinning, like she had won the lottery!<p>

"Oi, brat, what's up with you?"

Her shishou's rude voice snapped the young kunoichi right back into reality. Blinking she looked round until her eyes finally landed on the confused face of the cat.

"Nothing…" muttered the girl breathlessly only adding to Noriko's growing confusion.

"And trees grow upside down… What happened? Got into a fight?" Before Noriko had even finished Mariko had returned back to her little fantasy world. She couldn't have looked happier.

To Noriko she couldn't have looked more ridiculous, that big grin stretched out on her bruised face. Noriko's ears twitched, her tail swished, her eye twitched before she finally couldn't take _not knowing _anymore.

**_"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED - DAMN IT!"_**

Next thing you know Mariko fell of the couch from shock while Noriko grinned proudly to herself. _Still got it, _she thought with glee.

* * *

><p>"But Bro, she helped me! She is my friend!"<p>

A who was still glaring at the ground didn't pay much mind to young B's rambling, rather his thoughts were focused on the events that had transpired a couple hours ago.

Now, it wasn't that he hated the damn girl, even if she was weak, A wouldn't stoop so low. What he was, however irritated by was the fact that she wasn't originally a Kumo shinobi and even that would have been fine if she wasn't fucking useless. No kunoichi should be that damn clumsy.

He sighed and rubbed his face. He knew that wasn't it. When B had started rambling about making a new friend A had been curious, after the Gyuuki had been sealed within him nobody really wanted to be his friend so of course he wanted to meet that mysterious friend of his. He just didn't expect it to be _her. _

When he had first made that comment about her being an outsider and not fit to be a Kumo kunoichi, he had expected her to back down and accept the truth, but it was never that easy, was it? Oh no, she just had to be difficult and try to prove him wrong. Day in day out he heard from B how she trained, albeit not very successful training but still. Although, today she did prove to be good, acceptable taijutsu in A's book. Plus, she had defended B from the shinobi bullies who would be facing punishment. He hadn't interfered; he wanted to see if she was truly as pathetic as when she barely graduated the academy. And while she still didn't present any formidable skills she _had _gotten better, it was even rumored she could perform a summoning jutsu, a fact he planned to get out of his father later. He had almost even thought of thanking her, _almost. _But then that damn brat Katsumi had to appear! Seriously, he didn't even know that brat was in a team.

Back when A was in the academy it was rumored that Katsumi would graduate early, that he was a prodigy of his clan. Later he heard from his father that Katsumi's father refused to let him graduate early, for reasons unknown, otherwise he may have graduated the same time A did. But one fact A knew, that kid didn't have _friends, _he just wasn't social, so why did he defend _her _of all people. Mariko was nothing special! She was an outsider and a useless kunoichi, so why did Katsumi look so damn interested in her?! It just didn't add up. And the way Katsumi had glared at _him! _Who did that kid think he was? Then their other teammate, whom A knew nothing about appeared and dared look at him like he had beaten up Mariko, albeit he didn't help either, but you know what!? It wasn't his fault. It just wasn't…

"Brother?" A looked up at his adoptive brother before managing a small smile and then ruffled his hair affectionaly.

"I'm fine. It's alright, I can't forbid you from being friends with her, I just… Never mind. Let's just go home." B just nodded still confused about his brother's strange behavior.

* * *

><p>Noriko's POV<p>

* * *

><p>"Well, that sure is a story you got there. So Riza helped you out and then even katsumi came? I thought that kid spend most his time asleep." Mariko just nodded a pleased smile on her lips. However, it soon melted away as she thought about something. Her eyes adopted that faraway look. She was clearly remembering something.<p>

"I don't think they both like me, Katsumi made sure to point out how much of a hassle that was for them." Her brown drew together as her frown deepened.

Just as I was about to inquer more details about that conversation a voice cut of any further thoughts.

**"_Oi, Mariko, I'm home!"_**

* * *

><p><strong>Hello there, people of the internet, I do hope you enjoyed the newest chapter because from now things are about to become a lot more interesting! If you have any suggestions, feel free to message me!<strong>

**REVIEWS:  
><strong>ninja-of-twilight: Thank you so much!

Ketsueko: Aw, thank you! As for A hating strangers, well, read and see ;P, but no I'm not going to as explained in this chapter, he isn't totally against them. As for Noriko learning any jutsus, I'm still thinking about it, but more likely no. Anyway, thank you for reviewing!

**Thanks to anybody who followed/favourite and especially reviewed this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!_

* * *

><p><em>Edited 153/2015_

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

* * *

><p><em>Chopstick team<em>

* * *

><p>As if being a four legged furry little monster wasn't bad enough, now I was also qualified as lowly as a pet?! Seriously, what's wrong with people!? Ah, right, I look like a fur-ball. Never freakin' mind.<p>

"Mariko, I thought we talked this over, no pets in the apartment," the woman muttered as she eyed her niece critically.

I used the time Mariko took to answer to observe the woman, which was embarrassingly long as she was supposed to be a ninja and nothing was supposed to bring her out of tack**_ (Note to self: another thing to work on!) (Another note to self: stop making notes to self)_**.

Anyway, Mariko's aunt seemed to be your average kunoichi. Much like Mariko the woman had brown hair, only difference was that hers was a few shades darker and not nearly as wavy and unruly as Mariko's was. Her eyes were not green either - instead they were a dark blue shade that reminded me of the depth of a large pool of water.

She sighed heavily. "Whatever Mariko, I had a long mission, I want _it_ out before I come back from my shower," she grumbled tiredly. My ears twitched as well as my tail, obvious signs of my growing irritation. _I want **it** out, she says? Well, **fine**! I will just leave then. I need to check into the library anyway._

"Fine, fine, I will let myself out…" I muttered irritated as I got up from my sitting position next to Mariko. Suddenly the older kunoichi stopped dead in her tracks before shooting me an uncertain look filled with surprise. Then her face lit up and I nearly cringed.

Turning to her niece she said, "Mariko, I didn't know you knew how to summon."

She sounded so proud. Time to crash that.

"Ah, not exactly kunoichi-san, Mariko didn't sign a contract nor did she summon me." Now she looked curious, great, more lies I need to make up in record time. "It's a long story… The Raikage _is _informaed though, but if you want to check with him."

Judging by her expression she was going to go anyway, but that was alright.

She gave me another hard look before glancing at Mariko then back to me, then she did it a few more time before she shook her head, shrugged and headed off towards the bathroom.

"Your aunt is odd," I stated bluntly causing Mariko to grin with embarrassment. "Either way, I gotta run and find a way to sneak into the library. I will see you tomorrow for training. Try not to be late."

The girl just gave me a nod accompanied with a bright smile. "Alright, shishou!"

With a nod of my own I departed out the window.

* * *

><p><em>5 hours later<em>

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><p>Sneaking into a top secret library was embarrassingly easy, gotta remember to mention it to the Raikage, but it was a good thing for me. With the library void of all life forms, I had free game. Except a mouse I somehow manage to hear even though it's in the other room and the fact that my body twitches every time in anticipation to catch it isn't exactly easy. And with free game I mean complete access to all books the library had to offer, however what I was searching for was something peculiar and the worst thing was I couldn't find a thing, then again I highly doubt Rai No Kuni was known for cat summons.<p>

"This is getting me nowhere…" I muttered in disappointed while rolling up yet another scroll.

"Hoo, hoo!" Jumping a bit in surprise my eyes widened as I saw an owl sitting on top of one of the bookshelf . I titled my head in curiosity. How did it get in here, more so how did it get in here without me hearing it when I can still heart that damn mouse _in the other room! _

"Who are you?" Well, considering I'm a speaking cat I figured it was a valid question.

The owl titled his (or her, it was really hard to tell) head to the side before speaking.

"My name is Takao. Are you Doris?" _Male._

I unconsciously cringed at the mentioning of my old name but nodded none the less.

"I go by Noriko now. What do you want?"

He hoo-ed once before responding, "I was send to deliver a message for you." And with that said he used his right wing like an arms to throw a small container which probably held a scroll within it on the table.

When I looked back up to ask him something else he was gone. _How did he do that?_

For the longest time I just started at the scroll, deeply in thoughts. So, this wasn't a dream, no coincidence? A dreadful feeling settled deep in my small stomach. For the first time the reality of my situation hit my like a ton of bricks all at once. It felt surreal and had my head spinning. I was a bloody cat, in an anime show about a knuckled-head ninja, years away from the canon I actually knew shit about and to top it all off I created a web of lies creating myself a new identity as a spy.

_I'm doomed._

Still, with shaky paws I opened the scroll and started to read. Now to think about it never once did I question my newfound ability to read kanji…

_Dear Doris,_

_As you may have noticed you woke up in the body of a cat in a world that is not your own _(cue eye roll, is this guy/girl serious?) _. Truth to be told, it wasn't really in our intention to do so, while transferring your soul from the world of the living a small mistake has occurred thus creating this situation you found yourself in. _(small mistake? Small!? Damn I really want to bash this person's head into a brick wall). _Since it is already too late to correct our mistake, _(you don't say?) _we decided to give you small help with your set goal, by putting your paw on the bottom of this scroll and saying the word UNSEAL you should be able to produce another scroll, __**The Cat Summoning Contact **__to be more precise. It is a whole identity we have created for you, Doris, or should I say Noriko. Keep in mind, this is now an alternative version of the story you once knew, there will always exist a timeline without your influence. Therefore you are free to change as many things as you want, but beware, this is your __**reality **__now. This is no longer a dream, nor a game, I hope you realize that._

_Best regards,_

That's where it stopped, the person never signed.

_But beware, this is your __**reality**__ now…_

What does he (I will simply chose a male agenda, makes my life easier) mean by that? I get it, it's real, damn, he acts like I'm stupid or something…

Huffing, I reread the part about the contract before putting my paw on the scroll and muttering UNSEAL.

And truly out pops a scroll. Grinning I took it with me to Mariko's place. I have a lot of things planned for tomorrow and this just made life easier.

* * *

><p><em>The following morning<br>_

* * *

><p>"Alright, now that you are all here we can beging with the test," stated the green haired kunoichi as she pulled out two golden bells. "Your goal is to aquier one of those bells before time is up. If you do not manage to do so, you cannot attend the next chunin exams."<p>

Hey! I couldn't do _everything _like Kakashi, give me a break, they would have never bought the dropping-of-the-team bit. But this is something Midori-san _can _influence. In fact it was fun to see the annoyed expression Katsumi's face adopted as he watched the bells with didain.

"I think it's clear who won't be able to get a bell. And since there are only two, I'm guessing one of us is bound to be dropped anyway?"

_Smart ass. _

Midori nodded. "Indeed." Her gaze hardened as she stared at Katsumi. "Do not think you will easily obtain one of these bells, Katsumi-kun."

He just scoffed. Midori looked them all over. Mariko had an expression of pure nervousity and she kept glancing my way , but I just shook my head. She had to do this alone. Beside, it's about time she face reality. Riza looked bored, but beneath that a tad bit worried. Katsumi just looked annoyed.

"Begin!"

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><p>3rd POV<p>

* * *

><p><em>3 hours later<em>

* * *

><p>Mariko gazed at the green-haired woman who was casualy ready her book while also dodging, with practiced ease, each and every one of Katsumi's futile attempts at landing a hit on her. The orange-haired male of the group soon joined the Ohitsuji as they attemped to take the woman down, not together of course. If anything they hindered each other even more in the task. Mariko heaved a sigh as she looked down on the ground from her hidding spot. She would never be able to do this. Not... not <em>alone <em>at least, but-

No, Katsumi, she was sure, would never work with her. Even if he did help her the other day he made sure to explain to her in great detail that they would never be a team.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Flashback/_**

Just as the last of the bullies left Mariko turned to her two team mates with a small smile on her face.

"T-tha-"

Katsumi's sharp glare cut her off before she could get even the first word out.

"Listen here and listen well, the only reason I helped was because _he,_" Katsumi pointed at the young jinchuriki," is the sole reason the Hachibi hasn't killed us all yet. I _don't like **you. **_I _don't _want to _be friends with **you. **_In fact, I don't even want to be in the same team as **_you._**" And with that the Ohitsuji left the area of the fight fairly quickly.

Mariko was too stunned to even say anything. She was pretty sure her jaw was left hanging open. She looked down on the rocky ground beneath her, her eyes watering slightly, but she refused to let tears fall.

"Hey, don't take it to heart."

Her head snapped up as she heard Riza talk. The ginger gave her an awkward smile. "He has always been like that, remember? Must be an Ohitsuji trait," he grummbled out. "Anyway! We _are _in a team. Whether Katsumi likes it or not, so, you... Ah, never mind. I'm not good at this whole comforting thing." He threw her a hasty smile before turning around.

"I will see you tommorw at practice!"

Mariko was left staring after him in mild surprise.

"Yo, Mariko, thanks for the defense / but I could have handeled those guy with my own offense."

Mariko just gave him a small smile.

**_/End of Flashback/_**

* * *

><p><em>Why bother? Nobody wants to be in a team with me anyway... At least not voluntarly, <em>she thought a frown marring her face. _I will never be good enough, but..._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Flashback/_**

"Brat, your teamwork sucks."

Mariko looked at the cat walking alongside her, but at eye level since she walked on a brick wall.

"What do you mean?"

Noriko huffed her tail shooting into the air.

"Listen kid, out there on a mission you will have to not only rely on your own skills, but also on those of your team mates. Out there you will have to take care of them as well. Who else will have your back if not them? You are a unit."

Mariko didn't say anything until they got home, there Noriko searched for something in the kitchen as Mariko thought over her shishou's words.

"Brat, come here!" Mariko naturally complied, rushing to see what her shishou wanted. Mariko found her sitting on the kitched counted, next to her a bunch of wooden chopsticks.

"Take one." Mariko didn't know why, but Noriko did have strange methods of teaching her a lesson so she did what was asked of her.

"Break it." Mariko didn't see the point, but did so anyway.

Noriko nodded. "Good, see how easy that was? Now take a fist full and try to break them in half together."

Mariko nodded only to find herself unable to. She frowned turning to look at Noriko. "I can't."

Noriko grinned her cat like smile before nodding. "That's what a team means. Alone you break easy, together it takes a lot more to destroy you."

**_/End of Flashback/_**

* * *

><p>Alone she would never stand a chance. Alone, neither of them would. Even if she couldn't prove her point to A-san, her team mates had a right to try and become chunins. That way they would get rid of the bagged that was her quicker. Now the only thing left to do was find them and explain her plan.<p>

* * *

><p>Noriko's POV<p>

* * *

><p>I waited for <em>8 freaking <strong>hours! <strong>_I only had _that much _patience before it all run out.

When Mariko _did_ finally step through the door of the apartment she shared with her aunt, she looked tired, beaten and overall like sh*t. Good, Midori-san_ did_ promise not to go easy on them, In fact, the level of skills she used would be classified high-chini to low-jonin.

"Did you get a bell?"

I did not know wether to grin or cringe at her appathetic expression.

"No," she said quietly, but then brightned a bit. Well, she still looked pathetic. Damn, I hope Katsumi looked at least just as pathetic as the little kunoichi before me.

"I see, but you got the point of the exercise," I stated as I watched her nod. She sat down on the couch with a soft _thump. _I put my paw over the scroll in front of me, my eyes never leaving the tired kunoichi.

"I have a little _present _for you," I cooed softly. her eyes lit up, but she was too exhausted to move.

"Really?" she mumbled out.

I nodded. "I will give you **The Cat Summoning Contract **to sign."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry, this chapter is rather short, but I wanted to cut it here since next chapter Noriko finally establishes her spy network. Noriko will slowly come to realize her new reality, she hasn't fully grasped the concept of it, but you will see that in later chapters.**

**Anyway, thanks to all you guy who put this story on your alters! I would be glad however if more people review, but I guess it can't be helped :(**

**And sorry for any mistakes! I don't have a beta and even when I proof read the text mistake still slip by. If you want to be my beta you only have to message me ;)**


	6. Chapter 6 Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

* * *

><p><em>Your mission, should you choose to accept it…<em>

* * *

><p><em>Part 1<em>

* * *

><p>"R-really?" Great, she isn't going to cry, is she?<p>

"Yes, brat, really," I repeat eyeing her curiously. Her mouth stretched into a face-splitting smile as I explained the contract to her.

"You will write your name on it in blood, also you're the first person to sign it. That alone is a great honor. The cats of my clan have never been summons up to recent events that forced us to such measures…" Kami, I was pulling this from out of my butt. "Now," I began rolling out the contract, "sign here," I said pointing at the spot with my paw. "After that you will also place your fingertips as well."

She nodded fetching a quill and cutting her palm to draw blood, following my previous instructions. After she was done I nodded my agreement.

"Good, that's good," I mumbled under my breath unsure of my next move, it was going to be risky. I mean, I read what was required, but I still wasn't sure I wanted to do this. "Now listen, the hand signs for summoning are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Since you signed with your right hand, upon summoning you will have to cut it and draw blood as an offering to perform the jutsu."

Mariko started intently taking everything in and nodding now and again to show she understood.

"Good, good. Listen now kid, I don't want you to perform the summoning jutsu for another two days, I need to sort some things out at _home…_" Mariko's look shifted from excited to confused.

"At home?"

I nodded, nervousness creeping into my stomach. I was going to be on my own for the next two days in which time I have to convince a bunch of cats to help me. Joy.

"Yeah, after the two days are up I want you to try and summon me, I'm saying try because you might end up with another cat until you get the hang out of the jutsu."

"But shishou-"

I cut her off before she could say anymore. "Listen brat, you will be fine. You survived without me all this time. Besides now you have the contract. Ah, about that, take it to the Raikage for me please and tell him to keep it safe, but not to let anybody else sign it. I'm not even sure the other cats are going to like _you_, kid, let alone more people…"

I trailed of, damn, I hated goodbyes. "See you in a while brat, and don't slack off on training." She nodded, but looked sad.

"Hey, it's only for two days."

She sighed. "But what if I don't manage to summon you back?"

I shrugged, but on the inside I knew that it was one of the things that bothered me as well. "You will just keep trying until you get it right. Now, I have wasted enough time as it is, I will see you in a while."

And with that said I concentrated, visualized the chakra and though of only one word.

_Home._

* * *

><p>3rd POV<p>

* * *

><p>Mariko stared at the spot Noriko had been sitting at just seconds ago, a strange feeling settling in her gut. She had grown so attached to Noriko, the cat who practically dropped out of nowhere and turned her life round in a matter of days, and it was unimaginable for her not to see Noriko every day, or get woken up by one of her cruel methods.<p>

"Mari-chan what's wrong? You have been staring off into space since I came into the room, and that was ten minutes ago…" Her aunt trailed of searched her nieces face then round the room to see what had her so shaken up, then her eyes fell on the scroll still laying open on the table. She walked over to it as her niece tried to regain sense of the situation.

"It's nothing," muttered the teen as she watched her aunt read over the scroll, her eyebrows rising in wonder.

"I thought the cat said you didn't sign a contract?"

Mariko nodded. "I did just a few minutes ago, then Noriko-shi-, eh, san had to go back. She told me I could try and summon her in a couple days." The older woman nodded before pointing to the scroll.

"You gonna keep it on you…" she didn't even have to finish her thought as she watched Mariko shake her head.

"No, Noriko-san said to take it to the Raikage for safe keeping."

Her aunt nodded. "Good, you do that. Having such a thing on your person could prove to be very dangerous." And with that said she retreated into the kitchen leaving Mariko anew with her thoughts.

* * *

><p>Katsumi wandered the streets still thinking about the team exercise his team and he just went through. It was strange really, but through only a couple of days Noriko really managed to drill some sense into them, now don't get me wrong, they were far from perfect team work, in fact their sensei pointed out that it was only a small step towards the real thing, but they <em>were <em>getting there. It was strange when they were told they passed since they had not managed to fulfill the requirement set by Noriko in the given time frame. Still, as his team and he guessed the true objective was merely team work.

Teamwork wasn't a word Katsumi had been very familiar with throughout his childhood. Actually, he was often told by his instructors that he could only truly rely on himself and his abilities. Funny enough was that a mere cat could raise better argument than those old men.

Then there was Mariko who alongside Noriko managed to surprise him in a lot of ways. It was sort of funny. When they had become a team Katsumi never bothered much with his team mates instead focusing on his clan training, but he had seen Mariko training alone often enough. She wasn't very good at anything really, and the mere fact that she somehow passed the genin test was still strange to most, but what Katsumi had to give her was determination. Then she surprised everybody when the rumor about a summoning contract she apparently signed spread round. Everybody knew how rare those things were and for somebody like Mariko to find one… Then there had been the whole Bee thing which still hadn't sat well with Katsumi for a while.

"Katsumi-sama, what has you so worked up?"

Katsumi lifted his gaze only to be met by the hot pink eyes of his cousin, Raizen. Growing up he had been and still is the closest thing Katsumi has to a sibling. He was nearly a head taller the future clan head, had pink, nearly white hair reaching his chin and wore standard Kumo shinobi pants, leg protectors and a black jacket with a shirt underneath with the Ohitsuji Clan symbol printed on it. His head band traditionally placed for its given purpose; to deflect dull kunai.

Raizen had the face most girls would describe as cute and the nice guy sort of behavior. But don't let that fool you, Raizen was a formidable shinobi and very skilled. After all, he was Katsumi's chosen sparring partner and future advisor of the clan head. And, if something was to happen to Katsumi it was Raizen who would become clan head instead.

"Raizen, ohayo, are you already back from your mission?" The Ohitsuji clan member just smiled.

"Hai, but we finished earlier. Now, want to talk about what had you so worked up?" Katsumi just shook his head. But, if he had to tell somebody, Raizen was the perfect person to.

"Hai, let's go."

* * *

><p>Riza was lying on his favourite spot in the village, a secluded area near training ground 27, it was a place where he could peacefully take a freaking nap without anybody waking him up.<p>

"RIZA-NII-SAN!"

That was the only warning he got before a hyperactive 5-year-old jumped onto him stomach knocking the air out of him. Once he had finally regained his breath he took notice of his little sister grinning guiltily while sitting in his lap, looking at him with those big brown eyes of hers. Like him and his other two brothers, Sayuri had orange hair and freckles, a trait they all got from their late mother, whom Sayuri, unfortunately never got to meet, but heard plenty about from her father and brothers.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Did you sneak away again from uncle Tomo?" Sayuri just gave him a sneaky grin.

Sighing Riza waited until she had climbed onto his shoulders, then grabbing her legs he held her in position before carefully standing up.

"Come on then, let's get you back."

Sayuri pouted before grinning. "Ninja jumping?" she asked in the cutest voice she managed. As she heard Riza sigh she couldn't help but grin. Somehow she always got her way, or at least she will get her way until she starts dating boys, that's when the arsenal of shinobi men in her family are going to prove problematic with their over-protectiveness.

"Hold on tight."

"YAY!"

* * *

><p>Noriko's POV<p>

* * *

><p>After that horrible experience, I finally opened my eyes looking round to see where I landed. All round me was a pleasant smell, looking round all I saw was cat grass. When I turned behind me I saw a castle (you know those old Japanese style ones?). I titled my head to the side in though as my tail twitched from nervousness.<p>

Great, I have no idea where I am, but I guess I have no other choice. I gotta find the person in charge here and somehow convince them to join my cause (which I myself wasn't all too enthusiastic about either). I am digging my grave deeper with every minute spent in this world.

Having no other choice I started my way up towards the gates of the castle. As I expected there were two guards at the entrance. One had orange fur with white stripes the other one white with black stripes and they both were wearing helmets (old Japan style, actually fitting in with the castle). Once they spotted me they were immediately on guard.

"State your name and purpose," said the orange one firmly, the voice clearly belonging to a male.

"My name is Noriko, I wish to speak to the elder."

They both seemed visibly surprised at my declaration, stepping closer to each other they began to whisper before the white one run of probably to ask if that was alright. Still, I was not granted entrance just yet, not that I had expected to or anything, but still the way this cat was staring at me was creeping me out.

"What?" I managed to mumble out in annoyance. This was truly stupid, what was I thinking?

My nearly silent grumble seemed to have snapped the watch-dog, eh, I mean cat right out of his daydream as he straightened and cough awkwardly, causing me to raise my invisible brow.

"You're not from around here, are you? 'Cause I mean, I would have noticed you, certainly would have…" I tuned out his mindless jibber-jabber rather focusing on another cat approaching us, now this one caught my attention for one reason only, he was actually wearing a freaking jacket.

His fur was bluish-gray and his yellow eyes sparkled with something akin to mischief, his jacket was black with gold buttons and a hood lined with brown fur. He confidently walking (on all fours mind you) towards us with a smirk on his furry lips.

"Annoying the lady, are you Daisuke?" The other cat shot the newcomer a glare, while I shot him an amused smile.

"What do you want Yutaka?" The bluish-gray cat ignored Daisuke's rude tone and simply walked over to me smirking at me as I took notice of him being slightly taller than me, at least when we were standing like this (on all fours).

"As Daisuke so rudely said, my name is Yutaka. And knowing him he forgot to ask your name," I watched as Daisuke shut his moth about to protest about the first comment, but the second on seemed to quiet him not because he didn't because in actual truth I had announced it myself, but because it was, by my guess a normal occurrence.

I grinned, flashing my fangs. "The name is Noriko, Yutaka-san."

He nodded before adding, "No need for the _san _Noriko-chan."

My grinned walking around him as I spotted the other cat guard returning, I made sure my tail brushed against Yutaka as I did though. "Don't get to familiar with me this fats, Yutaka-_kun, _you don't know what you're getting into. Trust me."

He actually purred, but I could tell it was all harmless fun for the both of us, besides I was still to set on my previous human life to care about this one.

"Ah, but Noriko-_chan~, _I could say the same about myself."

I snorted but played along anyway. "Then I guess we shall both see? Nee~?" I muttered as I walked off towards the guard who was eyeing Yutaka curiously. Then his gaze turned to me.

"Noriko-san, please do follow me. The elder will see you shortly."

I simply nodded before following after the white cat.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Firstly I would like to thank the people who took the time to review this story, you guys rock! Also a huge thanks to those who favourited and/or followed this story! With that being said, I had to cut this chapter in half, it was really difficult to write and well, I'm still stuck on the second part, so I hope its ok. I didn't want you guy to think I gave up on this story! (As long as people are interested I will write, interested as in reviewing) **

**THERE ARE LINKS ON MY PROFILE FOR ART ON THIS STORY! (Simply clink on the name of the character you want to see a picture of, the link will lead you to my deviantart page; more exactly the picute on it)  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 6 Part 2

Chapter 6

_Your mission, should you choose to accept it…_

_Part 2_

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><p>The white cat's name had been Kayo as she had told me shortly when I asked before she brought me before a giant set of heavy looking wooden doors. The doors suspiciously enough seemed to open on their own showing of a richly decorated and spacious room, where on the opposite wall of the door were two figures seated, both, from my point of view looked stone old, giving me a feeling this was not going to go over well at all. Well, fingers crossed, wait, I don't even have any. Ah, forget it…<p>

Kayo walked in front of me as I followed close behind. When we got close enough the white cat performed a sort of awkward looking bow with I tried (and failed) to copy before she finally addressed the two elders sitting in front of us. I was actually amused to find both were female and looked like rather old, no wait, ancient looking twin Siamese cats, which, scarily enough made them look a lot like me colour vise (only, you know, greyer), but thankfully not face or body vise. (Wasn't I lucky?)

"Honorable elders, I have brought Noriko-san with me."

The one on the left was the first one to speak. "Ah, so this is the one-" she cut herself of mid sentence as her twin continued.

"- the prophecy spoke about. Most-"

"-curious, yes."

I was so glad cats possessed very little expressive possibilities in their face otherwise I would have probably looked like even more of an idiot for staring at those two like they were a horror movie come alive. However, after my initial shock vanished, I finally managed to speak up, however ungraceful that was.

"Prophecy?" was the only pathetic word that managed to leave my mouth, still two shocked that those two looked at me with scary and _knowing _eyes. Like they could see the very being of my soul. Alright, maybe I was overreacting, but come on! You would be too if you were a cat right now and in my position! Hell! I thought the only talking cats were in that old Uchiha base with that crazy cat lady and her granddaughter (still not sure who would marry and/or have children with that old bat, no matter if she had at some point been young).

"Why yes, a prophecy, albeit not-" began the right one as the left twin took over mid sentence to finished the thought. I bet those two practiced that purposely, just to scare and/or annoy people.

"-as big of importance to the world, like the ones made by those, those small-"

"-slimy-"

"-disgusting-"

"_**toads**__." _The finished together causing me to smirk and nearly laugh out loud at their fake horrified expressions upon thinking about the toads.

"I see…" trailing of in my inspection of the place my eyes finally landed back on the elderly twins. "Well then, do you know what I'm here for?"

The one on the right answered me first. " No that is-"

"-not in our knowledge. We were merely-"

"-told, you would bring us to glory. We would-"

"-no longer be in unimportant like most summons."

I nodded albeit a bit concerned they were giving so much hope onto my shoulders. Bring them to glory? Really, that's what they wanted? Would have figured it was something fancier, then again, they _did _say they were not as big as the toads. Fun, fun, but I really did want to mess with Jiraiya at some point, so maybe that would include the toads as well?

"I want you to help me form a spy organization ranging throughout the world in order to stop a mad man from taking over the world." This sentence alone was enough to let the two elders consider my offer with mild to high interest.

"Interesting, you seem to possess a lot of knowledge for one so young." I bit back a sarcastic remark about probably being a lot older than the two guessed, but chose to keep that peculiar piece of information to myself for probably my whole existence in this world. Instead I merely grinned at them flashing my white fangs as a purr unconsciously left my throat.

"My name is Noriko and if you will elder-san, I can't promise glory because in my line of work secrets and low-key profiles are a necessity. Only within these walls would it be known just how important we are to the security of the world. That is my offer and I cannot go about it any other way. My job currently is lies and deception, manipulation and blackmailing, being flashy is just way to inappropriate for a spy."

The two elders shared a look silently communicating with each other before they turned to me, a toothy grin on each of their faces. Surprisingly enough only the right one spoke this time making me thing they did the creepy exchange thing only to annoy the shit out of people, or scare them, either one worked for me.

"Noriko-san, it seems you have misunderstood us, we never wanted to be _flashy _we merely wanted to prove our superiority, even if only to ourselves and you are offering us something other to do then just sit round and wait for the world to end because of insolent humans, therefore it seems to me it's a good idea to help you out. For now we will only spare three of our loyal cats to your means, Noriko-san. And you may call me Kin and this is my sister, Ko."

I gave a respectful nod before the elder mentioned to Kayo, whom I had forgotten was still in the room to fetch a few people, I mean, cats, but only one name seemed familiar, _Yutaka. _My, how interesting things would become in the future? Though, one thing was for sure, I so wanted to get a jacket!

* * *

><p>Before me stood three cats, and all three looked certainly unique. Yutaka I already knew so I focused on the cat next to him who was about his size, didn't seem to be any peculiar breed, but rather an ordinary white coloured cat with mismatched eyes, one a pale yellow and a strikingly toxic green, the only thing really shocking about that guy, eh cat was the black bandana tied round his head, his name was Osamu. His face (even though cats originally didn't have much expression in theirs) seemed to be void of any emotion expect annoyance every time Yutaka made a snarky comment about him having a stick however up his butt.<p>

The fourth member of this little party was exceptionally different form us other three if only because he was 5 sizes larger than the others. He was a tuxedo cat, black and white being the theme colours of his fur adorned with a pair of light green eyes. Funnily enough it looked like he had a white mustached painted across his face which caused me to nearly bursts out laughing only to stop myself when I realized I would be working with those three for an indefinite amount of time. His name was Tamotsu. I was only happy the elders did not make much of a fuss about things (though, I had a snarky suspicion they still did not completely trust me, on the other hand trust is earned and I didn't trust them either, so everything was fairly fair on their part).

"Alright, listen up. Your mission, should you choose to accept it…"

* * *

><p>Mariko paced back and forth on the trainings ground, it had been roughly a day now since Noriko vanished in order to solve some business and Mariko was growing both bored and concerned from all the waiting. What if she couldn't summon Noriko back?<p>

"Mariko-san, please stop your pacing." Albeit the sentence was supposed to be a polite request coming from the annoyed Katsumi it sounded more like a command which Mariko instantly obeyed without question. Turning to her team-mate with a small nervous smile she quickly apologised.

"Sorry, Katsumi-san, I'm just ah, worried."

Katsumi merely raised a white brow before shrugging as they waited for their sensei to show up to begin training.

"Worried, about what, and where is that annoying feline of yours?"

Mariko huffed taking in that Noriko would probably be offended at Katsumi's wording, but shook it off as said feline wasn't even present. Riza on the other hand, now finally awake thanks to the conversation (or lack of it) taking place seemed to have questions on his own.

"Yeah, what's up with you learning to summon anyway? Isn't that a jonin skill or something, those contracts are usually hard to come by. I know here in Kumogakure we have owl summons, never heard of cats though…" he trailed of in thought as he watch Mariko who seemed rather pale at all questioning going on.

_Lie, quick! _she thought before letting out a long breath, then answering everything slowly.

"Ah, Noriko had to go back home for a while to take care of business. I never actually found a contract, I came across Noriko-san by accident and she I guess took _interest," _or more like pity, she thought silent, but didn't say it, "on me and decided to let me sign the contract. According to Noriko she isn't really much use in a fight or in tracking anything, she is actually a skilled spy."

Riza's eyebrows shoot up suddenly really interested in the conversation, even the ever-stoic Katsumi seemed intrigued.

"Spy? For whom is she spying?"

Mariko shrugged at the questioning expression her white haired teammate wore. "For herself mostly, she spoke to the Raikage and is now one of Kumo's new spies."

Katsumi mauled it over in his head before he remembered the conversation he had with his cousin yesterday. Raizen did mention the rumour of a new spy here in the village. How most intriguing that it was some_one_ so _unusual_, for a lack of better words.

"Yes, I have heard the rumour…" he muttered to himself more than the others, but Riza still caught it.

"Heard what?"

Katsumi let a small smirk grace his face, satisfied he knew something his obnoxious teammate didn't. "Of a new spy. Surprisingly enough it's a cat, Noriko to top it off."

"Well she is rather good with commanding people round, wouldn't surprise me if she had a whole spy network, of cats that is."

Mariko nodded, she really didn't know either, but she could see the point her teammate was making. It was rather possible for Noriko to actually do it, she got Mariko to follow her after all. Then again, the girl wasn't all that bright to begin with, but Noriko did say she had potential, so maybe she wasn't all that hopeless after all?

"And you hold a contract with her?" Mariko could hear the doubt from her teammate's voice as Katsumi made no attempt to actually hide it. The girl couldn't say it didn't hurt, nobody really trusted her much here after all. She was probably only on the team because if anybody with remote talent had been added the team would have been painfully overpowered. She had been after all the dead last, while Katsumi and Riza had been on top.

"Y-yeah…?" Nobody said anything to her as they turned the newfound information in their heads.

"_Interesting…_" said Katsumi, but made no attempt to look at Mariko, finding the ground to be a lot more interesting at the moment.

What could the spy cat possibly see in Mariko? She was hopeless, and the dead last in the academy. Everybody was shocked enough that she even graduated to begin with. She had little to no talent in ninjutsu, pathetic taijutsu and next to nothing going for her in genjutsu. And now that Katsumi thought about it he had no idea of any of her other skills, how had she graduated anyway? There had to be _something, __**anything **_she was good at or at least decent enough to actually graduate.

He 'hn-ed' softly as he glanced at the green-eyed girl next to him. He would have to watch her more closely from now on.

"Ah good, you're all here," said their sensei as she finally appeared on scene.

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><p>Two days ago Mariko had watched her shishou leave to take care of thing after letting her sign the summoning contract she could finally attempt to try and summon her back. It didn't help at all that the rest of the team had decided that that was more interesting than training.<p>

"Are you going to start anytime soon or can I take a nap?" inquired Riza getting fed up with watching the kunoichi of the team start the hand signs only to stop as if she wasn't sure what she was doing.

Midori-sensei on the other hand had her head buried in her poetry book not really caring either way, she was just glad that training and D-Ranks were over and done with for the day.

Finally mustering up the courage Mariko bit her thumb enough to draw blood and performed the required hand signs for summoning before slamming her hands on the ground.

"_**Summoning Jutsu!"**_

Once the smoke cleared Mariko nearly cried out in relief, first try and win, hah, take that Katsumi! She thought, the grin never leaving her face as she remembered how her white-haired teammate stated she would probably mess up or not even summon anything on the first try.

"Brat! I was in the middle of something!" So much for a happy reunion…

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><p>I had been just in the middle of explaining to Yutaka how good it would be to infiltrate Konoha when suddenly I felt my body being pulled back before the familiar effects of the summoning jutsu took me back to Kumogakure only to stare at my protégé who game a huge grin in return.<p>

"Brat! I was in the middle of something!" Yes, I did tell her to wait two days and she did wait, but boy was it fun to watch her expression fall from happy to disappointment in a matter of seconds.

"But-" I cut her off with a swipe of my paw.

"No buts, anyway," I glanced round seeing the familiar faces of her teammates. "I take it this was a lucky shot, huh? Nobody complained to me about being summoned before me." I grinned when she blushed bright red in embarrassment.

"It wasn't a lucky shot…" she mumbled in dismay. I waved a paw grinning.

"Lucky shot, beginners luck, same thing." Really I wish I could laugh at her hilarious expression right now. Shaking my head, knowing full well now was not the time to have fun I looked her deep in the eye.

"Kid, I found somebody to train you in tracking, that and I suggest to work at precision weapon throwing, you seemed to have a knick for that last time you demonstrated."

She looked happy before she pointed an accusing finger at me. "But you said my aim sucks!" she complained.

"Yeah so? You would have let it get over your head like any other compliment I give you."

"But you don't give me any compliments…" she mumbled annoyed.

"And now you know the reason for that. So, whose fault is that again? Ah, yes, _yours._"

She just sulked while dropping into a crouch and hugging her knees with her left arm while drawing patterns in the dirt with her right index finger. Everybody else just sighed clearly used to it by now.

_Now, then, this just leaves me with dividing my time between training and building up a spy network. The joy!_

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><p><em>AN: So yes, Noriko has made it! Hurray! But not to be too happy, after all she only has three people, eh cats to work with (for now). Next chapter will explain how everything went down in the cat palace and we will see more training for Mariko and some actual spy work from Noriko. Finally done with the setting and boy am I glad! :)_

**Also, huge thanks for those who followed and/or favourite the story!**

**And special thanks to: **_**4everfictional, saashi samy, guisniperman, tartanarmygirl, alemery, lala, Yinko, Radiant Celestial Aura **_**for reviewing! You guys are the reason I keep writing!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: ****Reviews: 45 - Favs: 51 - Follows: 85 – Communities: 3 and not even 10 chapters into the story? You guys make me feel so loved *.***

**I do sincerely hope I don't disappoint with this story. Honestly when I started writing I really did not think so many people would be reading it, the amount off attention is flattering. Next chapter will be double as long as this one at the least. (See how fast I update when you people review?)**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

_How to build a spy network 101_

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><p>I wish there was a manual on how to build spy networks, because honestly I never worked for the dark side. And by that I mean everything I used to do in my other life was always legal and now I'm surrounded by people who make a living out of doing things I used to have court cases about. It was, to put it simply, quite frustrating actually.<p>

"We need at least two spies in Konoha," I insisted as Yutaka and I scanned the world map while being watched closely by my two other underlings, Osamu and Tamotsu. Yutaka gave me a curious look, his yellow eye brimming over with confusion.

"Noriko-chan, I still don't get why you are insisting so much upon Konoha, what about the other villages?" he asked and made a valid point, but I only had interest in Mist and Rain other then Leaf.

"Trust me, Konoha is going to be a key factor in the future," I began, gaining Yutaka's attention even more, "It's, to put it simply, way too important."

The grey cat across from me nodded thoughtfully, "Indeed, they do have some of the most famous shinobi, but as far as my knowledge goes they also have a spy master, Jiraiya of the Sanin."

The grin on my face couldn't be helped, that was what I had been waiting for. "Ah, yes, Jiraiya. Indeed, he could prove to be very, troublesome," I said using the words of a well known Nara, "But, I will take care of him, later. Did you know the Sanin has a weakness, that weakness being females of his kind?" Yutaka's grin matched my own.

"I think I lost you there…" he admitted.

"Well," I said, "what do human females fawn over that is fluffy and walk on four legs?"

Yutaka thought for a second before realization dawned on his face causing me to nod my head.

"Kitties!"

"Exactly, _kittens _or anything cute really," I explained and the grey spy cat nodded.

"So, we are going to set a sleeper agent in there now?" I shook my head.

"No, not yet at least, it would be too soon. I have already heard rumours in Kumo about the new spy, a.k.a. me. We or rather I need to lie low for a while, rumours travel faster than a wildfire and Jiraiya will hear soon, good thing is that nobody knows I'm a cat." The other cats nodded before Osamu put his two cents in, not that I minded.

"What about Kiri, you were saying something about bloodlines for Kumo?"

"Yes, that is what I'm aiming for; as far as my knowledge goes the situation in Kiri is tense at best. People there dislike bloodline user with a passion, ever hear of the Yuki Clan?" At Yutaka's nod I continued. "As far as I know they are planning to kill them all of, something about controlling water seems to put people on edge. But, this situation is good for Kumo, really and since I have an alliance with them this is what I originally offered provided they listen to me, that is." I really would like to avoid anything like the Hyuuga kidnapping-gone-wrong if I could. "Aside from that I also need somebody to spy on the Kumogakure council, especially the civilian side and the elders."

Osamu was the first to speak, "Why would you want to spy on allies?"

I grinned, but Yutaka beat me to an answer. "Simply because they are allies, you see, in this business, Osamu-_kun_," it was simply hilarious how much Yutaka could get on Osamu's nerves, though a small, _really _small part of me felt guilty, but not guilty enough to actually do anything about it. Yutaka continued, "In this business you can never be careful enough, Noriko-chan is right, we definitely need sleeper agents in there, but they can't be cats…"

I nodded, that was a given, they knew I was one so they would be suspicious of any cat nearby. "I actually have an idea regarding that, but let's leave that for now. Kiri is my priority, so we know when to strike and recruit bloodline users. In fact wouldn't it be fun to have some of them as spies?" Yutaka laughed, his eyes focused on me.

"Noriko-chan, you are truly shrewd. I love it!" I just grinned. Suddenly the, until now silent, Tamotsu picked up the conversation.

"You also spoke about Ame?" Pointing with his paw where the village was drawn on the map.

I nodded. "Yes, Ame is also one of the main aspects, albeit, not nearly as important as the rest, simply because there is nothing we can do with Ame at this time." I could tell Yutaka was curious about my huge knowledge, but he seemed to shrug it off each time, probably finding himself a rational explanation for it.

Honestly, I found it easier to be round those three cats and a lot less unsettling, than my time with Mariko and the other humans.

…

Wow, when did I start referring to them as _humans? _This was slightly concerning, but currently I was happily living in what was probably my drug induced hallucination and as I said, I was about to enjoy it.

"Noriko-san, perhaps I could head to Kiri?" Osamu said, eyes heavily trained on the map. I was about to make a comment before Yutaka cut me off. He grinned at the annoyed Osamu who already guessed the grey cat was up to no good.

"Playing hero in front of the lady, Osamu-kun?"

Osamu just 'hn-ed', ignoring him. I swear I saw Yutaka pout at that. Took some will power not to laugh at them, I will say. Instead I cleared my throat.

"While it is very nice of you to volunteer, Osamu-san," I shot a dirty look in Yutaka's direction when I saw he was about to make an inappropriate comment. "While it is very nice," I continued ignoring the now pouting grey cat across from me. " I have an even better idea. I believe it best to that we all head out there. I will have the Raikage commission it as a mission. We might even take Mariko with us. Hmm, then again, she is quite accident prone. Might be bad… Hmmm."

Tamotsu grinned. "When do we meet the boss?"

I chuckled. "I wouldn't exactly call her a boss, Tamotsu-san. More like my personal slave, yeah, that has a nice ring to it. _Slave. _But, no honestly. She is young and impressionable at best that is why she is perfect."

Yutaka grew curious at my words. "Why is that? Wouldn't it have been better to let somebody with experience sign the contract?"

I shook my head. "Not really. You see while somebody with experience might take less time to adjust I would never trust that person and neither would that person trust us. After all, we _are _spies. Mari-chan on the other hand… Imagine a blank slate of paper, just waiting to be shaped after our ideas."

The grin we all shared was so sinister and soooo _awesome._

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><p>Really hard to go by my morals, it was easy, telling Mariko what she had to do in order to become a successful ninja. In the beginning it had been even easier, but right now, after one month with the girl I found myself divided in opinion. On the one hand I knew Mariko had chosen this life style as well as her parent before her and her aunt was leading that life right now. On the other hand I knew what that kind of lifestyle did to people and Mariko was just way too innocent for it. The fact that she loosely reminded me of my former younger sibling did not help in the least.<p>

I had gotten Tamotsu-san to train our dear young kunoichi, Katsumi was being trained by his older jonin cousin, Raizen and Riza was taking up private training with surprisingly enough Midori-sensei whom I found to be a taijutsu expert, something with honestly surprised me then I found the irony in it. Remember the bowl-haired Gai from Leaf, his jumpsuit was green and he called himself _Konoha's Beautiful _(or something)_ Green Beast_, If I was not mistaken, and Midori means _green, _but she behaves like a certain silver-haired ninja. Hilarious.

…

Didn't get the joke, did you? Ah never mind.

Moving on! Did you know I only had one month left to teach Mariko enough to pass the exams? Yeah… She was going to die… There is no way she could get suddenly good enough to even ensure surviving, let alone to be promoted, she lacked skill and tactical knowledge. Unless of course she learned shadow clone and managed to produce a thousand to learn a bunch of knew techniques (really, that was the best the author of this came up with, sounds like a cheat code to me). Anyway, Mariko wasn't _that _bad.

"Mariko-san, that one is poison to human, I have told you that three times now," I heard Tamotsu mumble in despair more than annoyance and suddenly all the depression hit me at once, creating a dark cloud over my head.

"There is no way, absolutely no way for her to survive this…" I mumbled quite to myself, my voice almost a whisper. I could practically feel that Mariko wasn't in a much better state either.

Riza's training was coming on fine and I heard from Midori that they actually had run an easy C-Rank mission before, but Katsumi ended up doing most the fighting because A) he was the strongest of the genin batch and B) Riza had been too lazy to fight and Mariko had simply been _that _useless, kind of like Sakura before Shippuden actually. And if you think I can get Mariko to become Sakura in Shippuden in two month you must be joking. Aside from training I have had a few conversations with Mariko about not taking the exam now, but instead to wait another six months, every time was met with resistance from the kunoichi. Like last time, she whined about her other two team-mates not being able to participate if she quit at which I resorted that while they were better than her still lacked experience to actually be promoted (Midori-sensei0s words not mine). After a lot of explaining we got back to the topic of her arch-enemy A, the son of the Third Raikage and the future (Forth) Raikage. After she had said again that she wanted to prove him wrong I refused to speak to her for an entire week which now leaves us with three weeks till the next chunin exams. Now at one of their training sessions (team training) I decided that it was time to give them more experience and hopefully get them all to drop this chunin exam and wait for the next.

"You have all made progress that is true. However, I have a proposal for your team, I already run this idea over with the Raikage, we will get another jonin to join us and you will escort me as I _scout out _an area in Kiri."

Eyebrows shot up and expression turned from serious to confused, to a series of either smiles or smirks. My own grin didn't flatter, this was going to be fun and risky, just the kind of combination that gives you an adrenaline rush whenever you think about it, just the kind of combination actually to give me the feeling that I'm still and _actually _alive.

"However," expression's once more turned serious," this mission would mean you would be mission out on the next chunin exams. The decision is all yours'. You can either accept or decline it, but you have to do it as a team. If you decline I will find somebody else to do it."

The three genin shared a silent look before Katsumi answered (one could tell he was going to make a good clan leader later on in life, after all, he was the chosen leader of this team).

"We accept. I can't speak for all of us, but I wasn't going to participate in the next chunin exams anyway." Riza nodded in agreement and even Mariko smiled a little.

I grinned at them and I could tell they saw I was up to no good. "Excellent. I was hoping you would accept this mission. I can promise you we are going to have _so much __**fun.**_"

The shiver that went down everybody's, even jonin-san's spine was enough to make me smile.

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, Noriko is a bit of a sadist (or a bit too much?), next chapter will be the mission in Kiri. Team Midori + Norio and the mysterious jonin (wonder who that is ;) or two? ;D**

**(Did I mention how much I love getting alert of either a follow or favourite added of this story? But reviews, those make my day :D They make me feel al tingly inside)**

**Thanks to: **_**Arcami, Yinko, 4everfictional, Radiant Celestial Aura, dragoncreators and Rikka-tan**_** for reviewing! You guys, you guys are so AWESOME!**


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: There were several Civil Wars fought in Kirigakure, so i'm simply making it up since it was never stated when they occured, this one is before the third Shinobi War.

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

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><p><em>They are taking the cats to Isengard, I mean Kiri…<em>

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><p>"Yutaka-<em>kun, <em>that was _my _fish," I hissed at the grinning grey cat that had just eaten _my _tuna. It was _mine! _

"Ah, gomen, Noriko-chan, but it was such good fish." He even had the nerve to grin cheekily at me. That guy… he drives me nuts.

"Ah, please don't fight." Ah, poor Tamotsu, always the peacemaker.

"Tamotsu-san, stay _out of it!_" I'm pretty sure that by this point I sounded like a rabid cougar rather than a house cat. But that fish had been _mine! _Tamotsu shrank back into the corner of Mariko's living room, probably deeming it safer than getting involved. Osamu had tailed it as soon as he saw what Yutaka was up to, having already reserved a spot at the far end of the room to watch the show. And a show he will get.

"Noriko-sama, please don't fight." That brat drives me insane too.

"Brat, stay out of it!" Poor Mariko didn't look any better than Tamotsu had when I yelled. _Pity. _

"_Yutaka." _Yutaka's smile vanished when he saw me leaping at him from my spot. From that point of, well, some things are better left unsaid.

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><p>"Yutaka will clean it up when we get back…"<p>

The grey cat beside me was about to comment, but one sharp look in his direction silenced any form of complain. The room was a mess from my chase with Yutaka. That idiot broke several things while running from my wrath. Mariko just nodded a nervous smile on her lips. I sighed. This trip is bound to be brought with a lot of problems. Ah, but compared to how serene my life here was up until now I think I will manage.

"Let's go, the other's are surely already waiting at the gate," I said jumping down from the table. Mariko's eyes lit up as she picked up her backpack.

"By the way, Noriko-sama, who is the jonin accompanying us?"

I grinned. "About that…"

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><p>Mariko looked from A and B, back to me, and back to them. I hid a grin beneath my paw. She was so easy to get worked up it was most comical. Yutaka's confused gaze found my amused one.<p>

"They don't like each other," I explained as we watched A and Mariko share heated glares with each other. That is, until Katsumi broke the silence. Damn, Midori-sensei ought to step in more often. Then again, judging by her smile she was probably just as amused about this as myself.

"We should probably head out now," announced the Ohitsuji to the rest of the team. Everybody nodded and thankfully Mariko and A stopped glaring at each other, for the moment that is.

Once on the road (_finally_) Yutaka couldn't hold in his curiosity. I was riding on top of Tamotsu-san's head while Osamu and Yutaka were walking next to us and a little away from our human company.

"So, those two," he began casually mentioning towards the two _rival _"what's their deal?" I sighed.

"The brat and the Raikage-brat apparently got off on the wrong foot, if you know what I mean," when he nodded I continued, " I don't know the whole story, but apparently he doesn't like her since she wasn't born in Kumo and well, she _is _terribly lacking in skill," Tamotsu silently snorted beneath me as I grinned, "so I guess I can't blame him entirely…"

"But?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. Mariko is too headstrong to admit it, but it bothers her more than it should. I guess because of him she felt even more like an outsider than she already did, but I'm working on that. Because, in the end, if she survives that long he is going to be the Raikage and she will be his subordinate."

"I see…" he mumbled while glancing between the two who stood as far away from each other as possible, choosing, for the moment, to ignore the other in favour of staring death ahead of themselves. "So, your conclusion?"

I grinned, and if it weren't for being a cat I would have chuckled. "If it weren't for Mariko's age I would blame it on sexual tension."

Yutaka raised an invisible brow. "Really? Most intriguing deduction, Noriko-chan, most _intriguing…_" I didn't even have to look at him to know he was grinning.

I couldn't help but shake my head. Looking at the brat I was living with and the brat I knew would be the future Raikage I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Mariko and the other two in the original story-line. She was sort of friends with Killer B, right? And from what I vaguely remember B didn't have any friend aside Motoi and his adoptive brother. So, where was Mariko? Unless… she had been killed during the war? No, that can't be right… Then again, she _wasn't _talented in the ninja arts. Maybe she had retired?

"Noriko-san?" I looked down to see it was Osamu that had actually spoken, but I didn't see Yutaka with him. Looking around I spotted him making idle chat with the human's up ahead.

"Are you alright?"

I just nodded. "I'm fine, just thinking…"

Osamu didn't look convinced. "About the mission?"

I nodded taking the offered explanation for my sudden mood shift. "I guess you could say that… It's nothing important." Turning to him with a grin I added, "Who knows, maybe it will even be fun?"

Osamu just raised a brow before he glanced at the company ahead. "With Yutaka-san here, I would not deem fun to be safe."

I just shook my head, my bad mood practically gone. "I suppose…"

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><p>Riza didn't know what to think about this whole situation, and he was sure Katsumi had noticed it too. There was a tension round the group. A tension caused by Mariko and A-sama. The future Raikage, honestly, it <em>should <em>be an honour. But the tension settle around Riza was not because of the kunoichi of his team or the future Raikage, but because of the small _rapping _dark-skinned kid walking ahead of him, between Mariko and A. Riza was walking next to Katsumi and Midori-sensei was walking a little way ahead of everybody else, being the group leader, choose surprisingly enough by Noriko herself. The cats were walking behind them all, but somewhere along the trip the grey one had walked ahead and joined Mariko in a conversation with the youngest member of the party.

Riza had heard about him before, but didn't give him much though, in all honesty he wasn't expecting much out of him. All the previous jinchuuriki had failed. How he was different Riza could no phantom. As far as his knowledge went the kid was skilled, but others had been as well. Riza would have probably ignored him if it wasn't for that horrible _**rapping! **_The brat didn't even have talent for it! He was mildly surprised Mariko even understood him in the first place.

"Is he always doing that?" he wondered out loud, but only Katsumi and the cats heard him. Noriko graced him with an answer when Tamotsu walked closer to him and was now walking in between Katsumi and Riza.

"Better get used to it, brat. The kid won't stop with it. He isn't good, but it makes him happy," she said and Riza was left thinking over her words as the fell into silence once more.

Katsumi, on the other hand, looked closely at Noriko who was watching the jinchuuriki with a faraway expression, as if she was remembering something. And by the looks of it, it was something amusing to the cat. He didn't really understand nor trust the cat too much. In his opinion she knew much more then she let on for she was way too easy-going around ninjas who could end her in a few seconds flat. She looked at everybody and smiled like only she knew a secret they didn't. It unnerved the white haired boy to no end. The fact that she was quite close with their teammate didn't make matters any better. Mariko was way too trusting for her own good, in fact, way more trusting than a shinobi should be.

Midori-sensei was engrossed in her haiku poetry, well, at least that is what it seemed from the outside. She was carefully asserting the situation of the company all the while looking out for possible treats. She could tell Mariko wasn't at ease with the additional company, but Noriko had deemed it important for the girl to get over her dislike for the Raikage-_brat. _She however seemed strangely at ease with the jinchuuriki. The same thing couldn't be said about her other two genin. Riza was glaring at the back of the jinchuuriki's head while Katsumi seemed to look anywhere but at him.

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><p>Night couldn't have come soon enough. As I had guessed the ignoring between the two pseudo rivals didn't last long. Soon enough they had started a glaring contest, which apparently A won since Mariko was the first to start a fight, which nobody won since Midori-san had to break it up in order to set camp. Yes, they <em>can <em>and _will _argue that long if they can. And over such petty things no less! Seriously, who caress how Mariko is dressed. Yes the green of her shirt was too bright to be of actual use in blending in, but if Uzumaki can blend in while wearing orange then Mariko can do it in bright green. The last argument had also broken out about a ridiculous matter. I mean, what does height have to do with being a good ninja? That argument was also joined in by Katsumi and Riza since both weren't exactly on the tall side (_yet_). Even Osamu and Yutaka were slightly offended, but I could tell it was not really what A thought it was merely another reason to start an argument with Mariko. I had a feeling he got off on those arguments and started them on purpose and Mariko wasn't exactly hard to make mad.

Finally after dinner and the agreement of watch shifts, Mariko took the first watch and I deemed it a good time to talk some sense into her. Of course A had to make a snide remark about her un-suitability for such an important task at which I glared and Midori-sensei intervened with declaring that she trusts her student to keep watch.

While the argument had been amusing I did not want to listen to them till the end of the trip. Seriously, did they even have anything left to argue about?

Once I made sure everybody was asleep I approached the young kunoichi who seemed lost in her thoughts while staring into the dark forest. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, her elbows resting on her knees.

"Brat?" My voice was soft n contradiction to the offensive term. Mariko regarded me with a glance and a nod before staring of again. I huffed. Did I mention I hated being ignored?

"Brat!" I whispered loudly finally succeeding in gaining her attention.

"Yes?" Damn, I did not think those arguments actually affected her.

"You know he is only teasing you, right?" Mariko's expression shifted from sadness to confusion.

"Who?"

"A-san."

She huffed shifting her attention to the dirt on the ground. "I find that hard to believe."

I sat in front of her causing her to look at me. "He is," my voice left no room for arguments. "I think he finally sees more than just an outsider. I'm not sure why, but you ought to have noticed it too, right? I don't think he thinks of you as a comrade just yet, but it's a start, right?"

Mariko sighed softly. "I guess…" she muttered, but sounded unsure. I shook my head.

"Listen, you can't expect people to change overnight. It's not how it works," _except for Naruto it seems, with his it only takes a motivation speech. _I rolled my eyes while Mariko just looked confused.

"Anyhow, no need to be all broody about it. Just go with the flow, do your best and be yourself."

She sighed, her frustration leaking into her voice, "But, Noriko-sa-"

I cut her off. "Brat, answer me this. How do you expect somebody to see you as a comrade when you can't do the same?"

And at her silence I left her to her thoughts.

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><p>It must have been later in the night when the sound of a shirt change woke me up. I saw it was A-san's end of his shift, meaning the last shift just started, Katsumi's. I huffed, not too long until we set of again and I did not feel like sleeping either. Maybe Katsumi was up for a conversation? I haven't really gotten round to speaking with the broody teen yet.<p>

"Brat?"

Hey, I never said I was going to be polite about it.

He turned to glare at me, I grinned. None the less, he did not protest when I sat next to him. After a few moments of silence I was sure neither of us would speak when Katsumi actually asked a question.

"Why Mariko?"

At first I didn't understand, but soon enough I understood. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he was worried about her. I could see both accusation and worry in those lilac eyes of his.

"Why indeed…" I mumbled lowly before shrugging my kitty shoulders. "Would you believe me if I said it was out of the kindness of my heart?"

At his blank expression I grinned. "Didn't think so."

"You're using her." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement. I I wasn't even ashamed to admit it to be true.

"Yes, but she is using me as well. It's a mutual understanding from my viewpoint, Katsumi-_chan._" His glare didn't flatter, it only grew in intensity.

"Why _Mariko_?"

"She was available."

He raised a white brow. "I don't buy it."

A shrug on my side. "You don't have to, it's still true. She was there and fulfilled the requirements. I simply seized the opportunity."

And now that I think back on it, that was the truth. I honestly only wanted to amuse myself with her, and I still wasn't sure I actually cared about her as more than that. I'm no saint and I still wasn't sure about a lot of things, but that didn't matter. After all, this wasn't real, right?

_**This is your reality now. **_

"Requirements?" he questioned, surprised.

I smiled coyly. "You're a smart boy Katsumi, I'm sure you will figure it out eventually."

* * *

><p>The next day Mariko made sure to avoid getting into conflict with A. So instead she was talking to Tamotsu about stealth-techniques, meaning her teammates were stuck listening to B-chan's rap, which seemed to even bring out a reaction from the stoic Katsumi, who would occasionally twitch a little in annoyance, much to my chagrin. I was again carried by the helpful Tamotsu. I really loved his size. Eh, that came out wrong. But, he <em>was <em>bigger than the average cat.

A spoke with Midori-san about who knows what, I really didn't care either way, it was quiet, well, it would have been for me if it wasn't for Yutaka.

"So, I saw you spoke with the Boss-brat yesterday. Care to share?" I lazily opened an eye, glancing at him.

"No." I said and continued feigning sleep. I could practically see him pout.

"But Noriko-_chaaan~" _ he whined pathetically. "I wanna know~"

"I don't care."

"Please~"

"No."

"_Pretty _please~"

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

"I hate cherries and no."

This went on for a while actually. But in all honesty, it kept me occupied. Annoyed, but occupied.

* * *

><p>Two days later after setting camp I was approached by Midori-san.<p>

"We will reach the harbor tomorrow at noon, after that we travel by ship to the Land of Water." I nodded. I don't remember what the Naruto map looked like, I actually though we would have to pass the land of Fire to get there. Eh, maybe it's better this way. We still haven't left the Land of Lightning after all.

"That will do. However, we will have to be low profile. Really, low." I mumbled glancing at A and B. It was painfully obvious where they were from.

"I see… What do you suggest?"

"Gather everybody. Might as well, discuss the plan now."

She did as I was told. After everybody was sat in a circle I began to speak.

"As you all know the mission is to scout the Land of Water. Kirigakure to be more precise. I still do not have spies there." Man, I should get an Oscar for my acting skills, or lying skills? "But, we need to keep low profile," my eyes drifted to the famous duo. "Really low." Katsumi was the first to catch on."

"If all of us go in it will be too suspicious."

I nodded. "More or less right. I commissioned the mission as an escort, remember?" They nodded, but the confusion entered their eyes as well.

"What's the point of such heavy escort?"

_Finally, I thought they were a lost case for a second there. _

"Well, since you so kindly asked, Katsumi-_chan, _I will tell you. The reason is that I need you all to gather information while I find suitable places to establish a spy base together with Yutaka."

"Information? But, isn't that your job?"

"Well, Riza, yes and no. The kind of information I want is simple. I need information on every kekkei genkai user you can dig up. Clan's, users, problems… Anything connected to such."

Now that gained A's curiosity. "Why? What do you know?"

"Not know per say, more _heard. _Kiri is in the middle of a Civil War, or one of many actually." Eyebrow shot up, but that information was relayed to me by Yutaka so I was holding him to it. Currently it's between the Yuki Clan and other shinobi. I want to investigate that. If you come across that Clan inform me immediately. Mariko, all you need to do is summon me. That is actually what I wanted to talk about next."

I could tell that they were all still calculating and thinking about the War. Mariko was the only one to speak her concerns.

"But, isn't it dangerous to wander in there when there is a war raging on?"

"Well, depends how you look at it," I began to answer before A could make a snide remark. "In all actuality this War is working in our favour. They will be too busy fighting among each other to notice us."

"That explains the additional company," Katsumi muttered while eying A and B respectively. I nodded.

"Yes, now to the groups. I imagined it like this. Mariko and A, you're one group." The brat was about to protest, but nothing a single glare from me couldn't stop. "Yutaka and I will be on our own, we are the least noticeable. Osamu-san, you're with Katsumi, Riza and B." I could tell Mariko's teammates were not too happy with that arraignment, but tough luck. Osamu merely nodded. "And the last team would be Tamotsu-kun and Midori-san."

"Now, here is what I want you to do…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, people this took some time to write and to be honest I kind of don't have time at the moment, I have exams, and will have them for the next two weeks, but after that I'm continuing with regular updates. **

**Next chapter is a lot longer so it will take longer to write, but it's bound to have **_**finally **_**some action.**

**Again I want to thank people for Following/favouriting this story. I have a 100 follow, can you believe that?**

**Anyway, a special thanks to my lovely reviewers:**

_**suntan140, 4everfictional, Zaralann, katsekala and helenGet.**_

**You know, when I see alerts for this story it makes me feel all tingly inside, especially reviews ;) So thanks for those :D And for sticking with this story. **


	10. Chapter 9

Unedited due to Beta.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

* * *

><p><em>A mission to Kiri - Day 1<em>

* * *

><p><em>With Noriko and Yutaka<em>

* * *

><p>Getting into the village took no time at all once we separated from the others. Yutaka said that his contact was somewhere inside the village. Our task was to find him and get the necessary information for our mission. While I had said that the original goal was gathering information, Yutaka and I were after an orphan that Yutaka's contact informed me about. She was supposedly 15 years old and had no ninja training. The interesting thing about her was however her supposed skill in stealing from the villagers.<p>

If she could do that unnoticed then she could spy for me as well. Of course, I would pay here. Or rather, Yutaka-san would.

Because we were going incognito Yutaka even ditched his beloved jacket outside the village, safely stored.

"Where did you say your contact was again?"

Yutaka flashed me a pearl white grin before pointing into the right direction.

"There, in that alley way. He is a bit of an unusual character and might make some inappropriate comments. Just ignore him and leave me to the talking," he said gauging my reaction.

I shrugged. It really didn't matter as long as we got the information.

"Whatever you say Yutaka, whatever you say..."

The alley we arrived in was empty except for a couple of garbage cans leaning on the far wall ahead. Yutaka let out a very cat like meow which was responded to with two meows form an unknown source. Yutaka meowed one more time. Might be a code actually, but it got the job done, because out came a ragged looking steel grey cat with dual coloured eyes and a crocked tail wrapped up with messy bandages.

"Yutaka, I see you brought company." The cat slandered over to us and I finally understood Yutaka's earlier comment. He reminded me of a sleazy old man, just in cat version. For the first time I saw Yutaka wearing a very serious expression on his usually smiling face. It did nothing to easy my worries.

"Dante, always a... _pleasure._" Or anything but...

"Who is the lovely lady?" he inquired as he got too close to me for comfort. I was about to take a few steps back when Yutaka pushed his way in front of me, effectively blocking my view of the sleaze-bag.

And while I couldn't see it, I was pretty sure Yutaka looked scary, judging by the nervous look his _contact _adopted.

"Now, what information did you have for me, and why did I have to come all the way out here to get it?" Alright, Yutaka officially became scary. Was it wrong that I sort of liked it?

"Yutaka-san, ah yes, the information. About the human female?" he squealed out the words, sounding quite close to a dying pig.

Yutaka hummed, "Today, Dante, _today," _he warned him. I couldn't help but grin. Yutaka was my kind of man, I mean cat.

Dante seemed to have caught on to the point made.

"Alright, alright, no need to get all scary, anyway, about the girl..."

* * *

><p><em>With Osamu, Riza, Katsumi and B<em>

* * *

><p>Katsumi was by no means impatient. Neither was he easily brought out of tack. However, there was something about the young jinchuriki that managed to cause an exception to the rule.<p>

He was not only irritated beyond belief, but he also couldn't wait for this mission to be over.

"_Yo listen up 'cause..."_

"One would think he would run out of things to rap about," Riza whispered to his white haired friend. Katsumi merely grunted in reply.

"I mean, Noriko was cruel to stick us with him-"

"Noriko-san merely did what she thought was best. She went over it quite a few times actually," Osamu helpfully elaborated as he joined in the quiet conversation.

B was till up ahead, writing down new rhymes and thinking about new beats. Osamu watched him for a brief moment before turning his attention back to the genin.

"Went over it... Wait a minute, she is up to something." Riza pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. Osamu merely rolled his head. Of course Noriko was up to something, when wasn't she? He may not have known her for too long, but she reminded him of Yutaka too much sometimes.

"And you figured that out just now?"

Riza pouted glancing sideway to gauge Katsumi's reaction. The stoic Ohitsuji kept up his poker face. Riza's pout only deepened.

"You have known her for long?"

Katsumi's question came quite unexpected. Riza was confused, Osamu, on the other hand amused.

"One could assume that..." he agreed, but said nothing else.

Osamu was amused, if only slightly. Katsumi was very suspicions of Noriko. And with right so. But, he had strict orders from the Twins to follow Noriko's command and report back whether she was indeed trustworthy as she claimed to be.

He wasn't so sure about her. While Noriko did nothing for him to deny her his cooperation, she did not necessarily make any sense to Osamu. The white cat had ground for his suspicions. Noriko appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She allied herself with a useless human, yet she gave the impression of knowing things she shouldn't be able to.

He fathomed her need for privacy. He understood her need for deception. But he was ignorant to her reasoning behind helping the cat summons. Of course he realized she was helping herself. But what was her ultimate goal?

"Hn." The white haired boy was not much for words, but his emotions were clearly reflected in his eyes. Osamu found him to be no challenge. Riza wasn't one either and B... He did not feel like thinking about it.

"Where are we even going?" Riza did make a good point.

"Yutaka-san gave me strict directions. You are all to follow my lead. We are spying on the Terumi Clan."

"They are pretty private and powerful," the cat elaborated further noting the confused expressions.

"Powerful?"

Katsumi.

"They possess two kekkei genkais."

Riza paled, he didn't like the notion of somebody with two wretched blood lines chasing after him. Katsumi remained unaffected on the surface, inside he was slightly unnerved. B just found another reason to rap.

* * *

><p><em>With Midori and Tamotsu<em>

* * *

><p>"The Hozuki Clan is famous for the ability of turning their body to liquid."<p>

Midori nodded at the new-found information. "Interesting."

Tamotsu nodded in agreement.

"What would be our plan?" inquired the kunoichi suddenly.

Tamotsu smiled a toothy grin. "Noriko-sama gave me the directions, just follow my lead."

Midori smiled. "Ah, yes, you must have known Noriko for a while now, right?"

Tamotsu nearly tripped. Damn, Noriko really was right. Those humans were so predictable. He could understand that they did not trust Noriko, but wanting to get information out of him? No way.

Tamotsu adopted a Cheshire smile. "Long enough."

Midori grinned, but in reality she wanted to snap at him. "So, why have you guys opted for Kumo?"

The Tuxedo cat shrugged his massive shoulders. "Noriko-san decided that one. Either way, does it matter?"

A few moments of silence passed.

"You have no reason not to betray us. So yes, it matters."

"I assure you, Midori-san, we have no intention to betray Kumogakure."

_That's what you say now... _the kunoichi thought with doubt.

"We go down now, following the stream."

Midori just followed with her mind still a mile away.

* * *

><p><em>With A and Mariko<em>

* * *

><p>Mariko was close to exploding, that guy was so unnerving. Not to mention he acted like the leader! Alright, he may be a jonin and she may only be a genin. Ah, who was she kidding, he had every right to lead, even if he was a stuck up as...<p>

"Pay attention!" barked the dark-skinned teen as Mariko nearly fell of the branch she had landed on. She threw him a glare, but continued following him anyway.

_Why did Noriko-shishou made me go with him?_

On the other hand, A was thinking something along the same lines as Mariko. He would have felt better if he had been going with B, his annoying adoptive brother rather than this annoying clumsy brat. How in the world did she get a summoning contract again?

"Were did you say they were?"

He swore the cat gave Mariko the instruction only to annoy him further.

A vein popped on Mariko's forehead as she fought the urge to yell profanities at the future Raikage. Noriko had warned her that if she lost her temper with the "_Raikage-brat_" she would lose all extra training with Tamotsu and the others for the next 6 months. Mariko was not about to risk it.

"They were last sighted 6 kilometres north of here," she mumbled pointing in the direction.

A nodded looking ahead. The Kaguya Clan was known for their ruthlessness, but according to Noriko rarely anybody was born within the clan actually possessing the kekkei genkai. She had told them both to approach with caution.

"Mariko, stop daydreaming, damn it!"

Mariko would have glared if she hadn't been so shocked. He had used her name, even if he was rude about it. He had used her name. Maybe Noriko-shishou had been right. Maybe he didn't just see her as an outside anymore.

"Why the hell did you stop?! And what's with that stupid grin on your face?! Get a move on already, will ya?!"

Scratch that, he was still a jerk.

* * *

><p><em>With Noriko and Yutaka<em>

* * *

><p>"Are you hungry, Noriko-chan?"<p>

I scoffed, "Hungry?"

He just nodded.

"Forget that, what was with the scary act?" I tried to sound nonchalant, but I was way too curious for that. Yutaka just grinned and I was relieved to find it to be his usual goofy expression.

"Nothing to worry about, Nori-chan."

"_Nori-chan!? _Who do you think you are?!" I asked in fake outrage. Yutaka's grin merely widened as I grumbled my ears flattening against my skull.

"So the only noticeable trait we have is that she is blind on one eyes, the right one if I'm not mistaken."

Yutaka gave me a firm nod. "Yup, we don't have a name as of now, apparently she doesn't have one. Which can be quite possible considering she is an orphan."

"How do we get her to talk to us anyway? According to your _dear friend _Dante she is a slippery one."

"That's why I asked if you were hungry before. She is often seen by the cats near the market. I figured since we would already be there..." he trailed of giving me a meaning full look.

I sighed. "Might as well..."

* * *

><p><em>15 minutes later<em>

"Here I got the stuff."

A could almost see the giant sweat drop running down the back of my head. Yutaka was standing there, on his two back paws, dressed in a beige trench coat. He was also wearing a fedora and black shades. I threw him a glare.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled/whispered. It would do us no good if the humans heard cats talking.

A puff of smoke and he was out of the clothes and back to his normal albeit jacket-less state. I really hated that jutsu and the worst part was I still couldn't use any. I probably never would anyway and part of me was ok with that. Another part, the less rational one, was insanely jealous.

"Stop goofing around, will ya?" I grumbled annoyed. Yutaka chuckled.

"Oh, don't be such a sore player Nori-chan. Besides, we have been here for hours-"

I cut him off. "We have been here for barely 10 minutes... and stop calling me Nori-chan!"

"_I have been mugged!"_

"I think that's our girl." I grinned.

Yutaka just nodded in agreement. We were off a second later. Thankfully Yutaka spotted her rather quickly. She knew how to use confusion well. I had to give her that.

"We will corner her in that alley. I will go around!" Yutaka yelled while we were chasing her. With a nod from me we went our separate ways. In a few second we would have her cornered. Wait, how were two cats going to corner a full grown human? Yutaka really ought to see things through to the end.

* * *

><p>Thanks for all the support! Really, you guys make my day sometimes. Sorry it has been so long. I was really caught up with college and my side-job so... This chapter is rather short, but I was really experiencing writer-blocks. Again, I will try to update more regularly.<p>

Special thanks to:

_**Zaralann, Radiant Celestial Aura, lala (guest), katsekala, 4everfictional, alemery, **__**Lumi yoshinigama.**_

I really love it when you guys review. :D So thanks.

See you next chapter,

AkaNoKarasu.


	11. Chapter 10

_**VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE!**_

_A/N: I am skipping the rest of the mission, it will probably appear in flashbacks, but if I wanted to bring out a chapter now I had to skip it, otherwise this would have taken even longer to get out. Therefore, here is chapter 10._

_WARINING this stories logic is wearing thin. No, really, I'm making this up as I go, don't hate me! *cries in corner*_

* * *

><p><strong>UNEDITED due to lack of beta.<strong>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

* * *

><p>Third POV<p>

* * *

><p>"Your name from now on shall be <em>Junko<em>," stated the blue-eyed cat. "You shall only respond to Yutaka or me personally. Your assignments will be given to you orally. If you ever receive a written notice, you will know your position has been compromised. If necessary, during an assignment you will change name and/or appearance. Any further questions you may have or will have shall be addressed in the future. Clear so far?"

_Junko _could merely nod.

* * *

><p>1 month later<p>

* * *

><p>It was intriguing, at least for Noriko, on how many different levels Mariko could fail a day. However, lately there was improvement in her training - not that Noriko would ever tell her that.<p>

"Brat! Get a move on. I want 20 laps around the trainings field – _on your hands_!"

According to Mariko, her neko-shishou was a slave driver – not that she would ever tell her that.

Katsumi still has not warmed up to the kunoichi and he was very vocal about it occasionally. He also did not trust Noriko in the least and made sure to portray that very distrust through suspicious and, at times, murderous looks he would send the smug feline.

Riza was not that much against Mariko and he may – or may not have warmed up to B – if only a little. At least he did not flinch every time the boy appeared out of nowhere to present his newest rap song to Mariko – much to the chagrin of Noriko.

Mariko was still on relatively bad terms with A, but at least they didn't immediately break out in an argument when spending more than 5 minutes in each other's company. She was also greatly improving in the last few months. Midori-sensei had pointed it out to Noriko, but the cat had merely waved her off, claiming that Mariko was nowhere near ready for the exams.

Noriko didn't just have to deal with the wanna-be kunoichi, she also had to deal with the current Raikage, who was riding on her back (figuratively speaking) because of the rising tensions between the villages. It would seem that a third Shinobi War was unavoidable - it was just a matter of time before an incident happened, that would set it off.

* * *

><p>2 months later<p>

* * *

><p>"All I'm saying is that we shouldn't put in any agents now. The tension is way too high!"<p>

Noriko could see Tamotsu's logic. "I understand, however, we have just got the perfect opening!"

Tamotsu frowned, but allowed Noriko to go on anyway. Today it was just the two of them on the meeting. Yutaka had to go to the former Uchiha base to talk to Nekomata, boss of the ninneko- and Osamu was to accompany him, as to make sure Yutaka did not in fact, get into trouble. An alliance with them would be a great benefit for Noriko, but as the negotiation have been going on for two months now, Noriko gained little hope of that ever happening.

Alliances between Summons were _very _rare. The last was noted to have occurred during the First Shinobi War, none having been made afterwards.

"Lady Shijimi, from the Land of Fire, a noble woman, has been looking for a new pet - a _cat _to be more specific."

Noriko knew who Lady Shijimi would grow up to be. Therefore placing a new _Tora _with her was of crucial importance.

The lovely thing about being part of the Cat Summons is the life expectancy, Noriko soon learned. Unlike the average house cat, they were expected to live a minimum of 30 years – unlike regular cats, which had a life expectancy of about 9 to 15 years. The only reason this occurred was the fact that the newly made Cat Summons have been using their chakra for years to extend their life. Therefore, they limited their used of chakra to create jutsu. The only notable _warriors _of the Cat Summons were the, creatively named, – _Warrior 5. _Noriko was estimated to be around 3 years of physical age. This still gave her a good run. She would, _probably_ live to see the Forth Shinobi War against Madara.

The elders were most notable, currently both aged 45. This would mean that she would have to switch out_ Tora_ from time to time.

"It's our best option," Noriko reasoned. "If we don't do it now, who knows when another opening will present itself?"

Tamotsu heaved a sigh. He knew she was right. Still… "None of the kittens are exactly trained for the job."

Noriko of course knew this. That didn't mean it bothered her exactly.

"Tamotsu-san, no special training is required for this mission. Now, show me to the candidates."

Tamotsu's ear fell flat against his head. He really hoped everything would go well.

_Such a worry rat… heh, rat! *snort* I really need a hobby, _thought Noriko – her good mood ruined in a second by her own thoughts.

* * *

><p>Yutaka and Osamu returned a few days later, carrying surprisingly good news. Well, as well as they got. At least it wasn't a flat out no.<p>

"he wants to meet _me_?" Noriko asked, her own voice disbelieving. Yutaka frowned.

"Yes," he answered grumpily causing Noriko to raise a nonexistent brow.

Osamu didn't know what to say, but gave his input anyway to clear the confusion of the female of the group.

"The idiot may have _bragged _about you more than he should have."

Noriko turned her glaring gaze to the sheepish looking Yutaka.

"_What did you say!?" _

"Nothing that wasn't true!" he deafened quickly. Noriko did not look impressed.

"What did he say?" she questioned the only other sane cat. Osamu just sighed.

* * *

><p>"Nekomata-sama, what a pleasure it is to meet you!" Noriko was laying it on thick, maybe even a bit too thick. Nekomata didn't seem to notice.<p>

"The pleasure is all mine, Noriko-sama," he said bowing slightly. Noriko awkwardly sat in front of him, unsure of how to behave. The weirdest thing is that he requested to speak to her alone.

After she gave him an awkward head-nod, he finally took a sat in front of her. There were two wine glasses full of milk in front of them and a serving of what appeared to be grilled fish. Noriko wasn't focused on the food, she was more interested in what Nekomata had to say.

"Nekomata-sama, if I may be so bold as to ask what all this is about?"

He swallowed the bite of fish in his moth before answering. "Ah, yes, of course. Cutting it right to the chase, are we?" He closed his yellow piercing eyes before proceeding. "There was certain talk about you, that you had allied yourself with Kumogakure." He opened one of his eyes slightly and at Noriko's nod, he carried on. "As you know, Sora-ku serves as the Uchiha's munitions base, therefore we have certain ties to Konohagakure. However, we are in no way _actually _allied with the Uchiha, or Konoha for that matter. We would like it to remain as such."

Noriko didn't really expect anything else, still she was slightly disappointed. Nekomata took note of this, but didn't say anything more.

"Nekomata-sama, I hope I wasn't called in here only to hear about a rejection to my proposal?" She drew out, flashing her pear white teeth.

"You have a notable trade of fish, right? They are very hard to come by here and most that we have isn't as _appetizing _as the one you have to offer."

Noriko caught on. "A trading agreement?"

Nekomata shrugged reaching for his glass. "You trade us the fish and we will supply you with weapon and training. We are well aware that you have only few notable warriors in your Clowder."

Noriko humored him with a nod. Nekomata went on. "Additionally we would also help you if needed, but in no business that could jeopardize our neutrality."

Noriko grinned. "I believe you got yourself a deal, Nekomata-sama."

Nekomata grinned. "Indeed, I hope for a long _partnership _Noriko-sama. I will be looking forward to our meetings."

Noriko didn't really know how to respond. Because as soon as business was closed Nekomata seemed to have other plans for the evening, all including her presence, unfortunately. Noriko did not know what to say.

* * *

><p>"Junko-san, I hope everything is going according to plan."<p>

Junko nodded at the cat, still unsure about working with the feline. Who took orders from a species below them on the food chain?

She responded positively. "I placed the _sleeper agent _in the litter."

Noriko nodded. "Now we can only wait."

Hopefully, Noriko's plan would work and Shijimi would chose the _sleeper agent _as the first of what Noriko believe were many _Toras._

* * *

><p><em>AN: I'm sorry this is so short, but it's more of a transition chapter that had to be done. In addition, I was on the brink of giving up on this story. I'm still not sure whether I will continue. The only reason I even updated was because of the many notices I received. The amount of attention is both flattering and terrifying. (So many expectations ^^') Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this very short chapter and that you will stick around._

_Any comments are welcome really! I enjoy reading what you people think. Suggestions are welcome as well! :) I realize this story may not be everybody's cup of tea, but please restrain yourselves from leaving flames, not only are they rude, they tend to discourage authors from publishing their work and/or writing in general. _

**A special thanks to Freddie4153, general zargon, katsekala, alemery, Guest, Radiant Celestial Aura and ****123paco for reviewing!**


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